Hibs Euro rivals analysed as Easter Road boss issues Conference League tempo declaration ahead of clash
David Gray knows his team need to build first-leg lead ahead of trip to sweltering Skopje
Hibs will need to come flying out of the traps against proven European campaigners if they’re to reach the UEFA Conference League play-offs, according to Easter Road boss David Gray. The Edinburgh side host North Macedonian opponents FC Shkendija in the first leg of their third qualifying round tie on Thursday.
Gray, aware that his team could face difficult conditions in the sweltering heat of Skopje a week later, knows Hibs MUST travel to the Balkans with some sort of lead in the bag. And he’ll use last week’s home win over Kosovan side Malisheva, blown away by two goals inside the opening 15 minutes and a third before half-time, as a template for how to approach this clash.
Opponents made it through league phase of competition last season
Addressing the challenge presented by a side who made it through the league stages of the competition before being eliminated by Samsunspor in the knock-out phase last season, Gray said: “It's going to be another tough test. They were successful last season in Europe. You see their campaign they had last season. So my attention will fully change towards that now.
“The first leg is at home. We know it'll be a very different environment going over there. The weather, everything else that comes with that.
“So you need to make sure your first leg, being at home, you need to make sure you capitalise on that. And we need to start the game the same way we started the other night, really take the game to the opposition to make sure you give yourself the best chance. But it'll be a difficult test.
“One thing we have been is we've been dangerous in the last couple of games. So we need to make sure we're more clinical.
“We also need to turn the players around nice and quick and make sure they're ready to go. But naturally they'll all be up for it and ready to go because they're probably the best nights to be involved in.”
Onus on team to get fans fired up - Gray
Just over 15,000 were at Easter Road to see Hibs fight back from their embarrassing 2-0 loss in Pristina, while Sunday’s painful Scottish Premiership defeat by Motherwell drew in excess of 17,000. Gray is confident that fans will turn up in numbers for this one.
But he’s also aware that there is an onus on his team to get supporters in the right frame of mind, saying: “At home, we've got the crowd right behind us by playing in a certain way. And I know they'll really respond to that as well. So it's up to us to make sure we get everybody ready for it.
“The way we started last week is obviously the plan, yes. But that was the idea against Motherwell, as well. So it wasn't as if I changed or asked the players to do anything different in the first half.
“But it’s all well and good having a game plan and a way you want to play. There's an opposition manager and 11 players doing the same thing. So you’re trying to combat each other.
“I thought we were a bit slower in the first half against Motherwell – and hopefully that wasn’t a bit of a hangover from Thursday night, just stopping us getting going. But then you look at the way we finished the game, the way the second half went, and we were much more dangerous, much more creative.
“And we had big opportunities. A couple off the line. Nathan Lowe hass got a big chance between the posts. Owen Elding had a big chance at the back post. So we definitely created enough chances to win the game.
“So there’s a lot to reflect on. But we’ll make sure everybody’s ready to go on Thursday.”