Exclusive:Hibs Cup rivals 'not a League One club' warning issued as Hampden target revealed amid Wembley comparison
‘Unique’ nature of Scottish football gives players shot at glory - if attitude is right
Hibs have been warned to expected elite opposition in Dingwall on Saturday despite Premier Sports Cup quarter-final rivals Ross County currently being stuck in League One. And Easter Road boss David Gray has revealed that he named reaching Hampden – the prize on offer for getting to the semi-finals – as a squad target on day one of pre-season.
Stuart Kettlewell’s men currently sit second in Scotland’s third tier, with the Staggies – who were in the Scottish Premiership just over a year ago, before suffering back-to-back relegations – strongly fancied to bounce back into the Championship. Gray expects that to be just the start of their quickfire return to the top flight.
Dingwall a tough venue for visiting teams
And he’s warned against Hibs, in desperate need of a victory after crashing out of the UEFA Conference League at the play-off stage, losing the first Edinburgh derby of the season and suffering a painful away loss to St Johnstone on Sunday, against any level of complacency based on the fact that an entire league separates the sides.
“Ross County are a Scottish Premiership side who have dropped down,” said Gray. “But they've started the season really well, and there will be definite challenges within there, because there's a lot of experience and talent at Ross County still.
“They've retained players that have played in the top division. They’ve got a Scottish Premiership manager, a very experienced backroom staff.
“They've got a strong squad, they've started really well in League One, as you would expect with the players that they have. So I don't see that as a League One side, not at all.
“I know the disappointment of them being relegated, but they've kept it all together, and that's for a real push to get back to where they want to be. And their ambition, I'm sure, will be to try and win League One - and then win the Championship.
“That's where Ross County have been operating, in the top flight, for a long time - 10, 12 years, whatever it would be. So that's the challenge you face.
“Well, we've all been in football long enough to know there's no such thing as a shoo-in, absolutely. And I think that would be the biggest thing to guard against.
“Now, I think we demonstrated at the weekend there, and I'm not comparing any teams here, but if you don't perform to your very best, you lose. We're not good enough to just think we can turn up and win anywhere. And that's reality. That's been demonstrated.
“So we need to be bang at it 100 per cent, and what's at stake, the carrot of potentially get to Hamden, should be enough for any player to know to give absolutely everything on the day. But that's the same for both teams. So Ross County going into the exact same situation.”
National stadium motivation for Hibs
Hibs haven’t been at Hampden since season 2023-24, when they reached the semi-finals of the then-Viaplay Cup. The lure of playing at the national stadium is something Gray has used selectively in an attempt to motivate his men.
“That's something we talk about on day one of the season, when we were doing our goal-setting,” he admitted. “We talk about what's a genuine opportunity and possibility for you in the season.
“Scottish football is quite unique in that way, that you've not got six, seven or eight rounds before you get to that stage. Which is a change especially for players that have been used to playing in England.
“It's very difficult to get to Wembley, for example. So I think the chance to get to Hamden is real, it's right there, it's in front of us at the moment. But just to think that we can turn up and get there, if we go with that sort of mindset at all, it certainly won't happen.”