Hibs discover next European opponents as prize for downing Midtjylland and Conference Plan B revealed
Here’s who Hibs can look forward to facing if they overcome their Danish test
Hibs have discovered who they will face in the third round of Europa League qualifying, should they overcome FC Midtjylland.
Head coach David Gray takes his side to Denmark for their first competitive game of the season, for what is the first leg of their second round qualifier. They will aim for a positive result to take back to Easter Road a week later but ahead of that clash, UEFA have conducted the third round draws for their continental club competitions.
In the seeded section of the draw if they defeat Midtjylland, Hibs have been to drawn to play Fredrikstad FK of Norway. Matches will take place on August 7th and 14th and entry into this phase means the club will have a play-off battle cemented, either in the second tier or Conference League. The third round draw for the Conference took place later on Monday, with Hibs facing Oleksandriya of Ukraine or Serbia’s Partizan Belgrade should they drop into that competition.
What David Gray has said about Hibs in Europa League
Speaking after a friendly defeat to Bolton on Saturday, Gray said of the European challenges that await Hibs: “What I thought as a whole reflection is the whole opposition we've faced during pre-season, all the games are all leading up towards peaking on Thursday. I am happy with how preparations have went, result and performance aside on Saturday. I think the players know that as well, we've just been speaking about that just now. I do think we're a little bit in between on Saturday in terms of how we've set up against a variety of opposition that I think has been beneficial for what we could potentially face in Europe.
“Different styles, different levels of opposition, if you think back to Ajax and Bournemouth for example, and different ways of playing against these types of opposition. Saturday I thought we were a little bit in between, so that was probably a real good test in terms of playing against a team that's hungry, aggressive, physical, which we face domestically very often. So that was something that I felt we were a wee bit in between from being at our fluent best and positionally and the way we wanted to press maybe wasn't quite as aggressive as we'd like to be in certain things.
“And then within that there was obviously loads of individual errors and things that come that you'd much rather see in a friendly game today than on Thursday. On the whole, how pre-season went, where the level of the players are at, I'm happy. We know we need to be miles better than we were on Saturday, so I'm delighted that's happened today rather than Thursday.
What FC Midtjylland game means for Hibs
“But Thursday is a completely different occasion, it's a brilliant thing to look forward to and it's the rewards for last season. So I'm sure come Monday all the players will be coming in desperate to put the result and performance behind them and trying to get into that team for Thursday because right now it's about making sure you're in that starting XI if you can be.
“I’m sure they'll have been keeping an eye on our pre-season fixtures and the back end of last season. That's what you do. You do as much as you possibly can to give yourself the best opportunity and we've certainly done that. We know what we're going to expect to face and what they do on Sunday is almost irrelevant to a certain extent because they might do something completely different. The same as we've done something different on Saturday as well. So with it being pre-season we are looking at fitness levels of the players and making sure everyone's fit and available to go.
“I'm sure they'll have been doing the same for the last few weeks. I know their campaign starts slightly earlier. So all in all we'll make sure the players are fully prepared knowing what to expect. We're again planning to go over there and make sure we give ourselves the best chance to get into the next round.”