Relieved Hibs boss Gray celebrates rare win - but warns nothing is 'fixed' by one result
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
David Gray says he’ll enjoy his Saturday night for the first time in a very long time – after watching Hibs cruise to a comfortable victory over Motherwell at Fir Park. Goals from Junior Hoilett, Mykola Kuharevich and substitute Josh Campbell, allied to a clean sheet for stand-in goalie Jordan Smith, saw the visitors run out 3-0 winners.
Gray is adamant that one result hasn’t eased all pressure on a side still a long way short of their realising their ambitions. But speaking after his team’s second league win of the season saw them climb off the foot of the table, a grinning gaffer said: “I think I might even have a glass of wine!
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“I’m delighted for the players for the effort, the level of professionalism, how strong we looked within the game - and I think fully deserved the three points today. I challenged the players before the game to use Tuesday night (a dramatic 3-3 draw at home to Aberdeen) as the turning point in the season and take the confidence from that. And I think you've seen a side today that was playing with a lot of confidence and belief in themselves - and I think the clean sheet as well really helps with that.
“We need kick on from here because that doesn't fix things in terms of where we find ourselves, we know we need to progress and keep improving. But it takes us off the bottom of the table at the moment - and now we chase down the team in front of us.”
Victory eases the pressure on Gray personally, with the rookie head coach enjoying not having to answer questions about his own future, saying: “I've said for a number of weeks now I fully believe in the squad, and I fully believe I can turn this around during the difficult period. I always understood exactly why the questions are going to be asked – and still continue to be asked of me - because of where we find ourselves.
“One result doesn't change the season, we know that. But today we're not talking about individual errors, we're not talking about decision making within the game or mentality.”
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdHibs take on Celtic away next weekend, the ultimate test of the current mini-revival, Gray admitting: “Well it doesn't get any easier at Celtic Park next week so that'll be a real difficult test in itself. But I think we’ll benefit from the confidence coming in on Monday morning after having been down there for so long as we have been, dealing with adversity, dealing with the negativity around it and underachieving as a squad.
“The biggest message for me today is just to take the confidence from it, use that, build on that, and trust it, trust what we're doing, keep going, working as hard as we can. It's not fixed it as I've just said there, we need to continue improving the areas we can - and we've got a game to look forward to at Celtic Park which will be a real tough test. But the players know what to expect now, they've been there already this season and it's certainly not going to be an easy game that's for sure.”