Why Hibs boss dropped 'very important player' from squad for Hearts clash, as Gray makes 'burden' claim

Hibs boss David Gray has explained his decision to leave Josh Campbell out of his Edinburgh Derby match day squad. And the gaffer says he believes the former academy kid may be “trying too hard” to make an impact on the first team.

Campbell was virtually the first name on the team sheet during the early days of rookie manager Gray’s time at the helm, with the newly promoted head coach describing the attacking midfielder as a “very important player.” But the 24-year-old homegrown talent was only used as a late substitute in the recent loss to Dundee United – and wasn’t even on the bench for yesterday’s draw with Hearts at Easter Road.

Despite club captain Joe Newell being suspended, Gray excluded Campbell from a group of substitutes including Jake Doyle-Hayes, who made his first competitive appearance in 14 months, Dylan Levitt, Nathan Moriah-Welsh and Rudi Molotnikov.

Asked if Campbell was injured, Gray – speaking earlier today – said: “No, Josh is fine. He's trained again this morning, comes back into contention for this weekend, Wednesday night. And he's just part of a group of boys that are trying their best to get into the matchday squad because we've got a lot of competition for places as well.”

When pressed on what had changed for the player to have gone from guaranteed starter to sitting in the stand for the biggest game of the season, Gray said: “Nothing in terms of, well, I think if you ask Josh, I think there's performances for levels that he's sometimes set, maybe not quite where he'd like them to be. But it's not through a lack of effort or a lack of commitment or how I see him every single day.

“He's feeling it probably more than most because he's desperate to do well, he loves the club, he's came through the club. I've seen it over the years as well, you know, when you carry that burden and how much it means to you.

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“Sometimes you try too hard. And I think he's in a place at the moment where he's desperate to try and do everything he can to make sure we turn the fortune round, because he's part of a group that's desperate to be successful.”

Gray is looking for his players to express themselves when they travel to Dingwall to face a strong and well organised Ross County on Wednesday night, saying: “I think when you look at the league, that's the challenge every single week. You can see how tight it is, everybody beats everyone and that doesn't change regardless of the opponents.

“I know a lot was made about the derby and the biggest derby in years because of the situation we find ourselves in the league, both teams. But we find ourselves in the league because we've not had enough wins on the board - and that can quickly change with what lies ahead of us.”