Hibs fans WILL back team against Celtic - Gray in 'sure' claim despite Hearts title chase factor
Martin O’Neill takes defending champions to Edinburgh looking to keep pressure on in title race
David Gray insists the Easter Road support will be right behind Hibs as they look to complete the double over Celtic on Sunday – despite the possibility of helping Hearts towards a historic Scottish Premiership title. And the Hibs boss says the impact of their result on other teams’ hopes won’t even be a fleeting consideration for the home side.
Defeat for nine-man Hibs in last weekend’s derby leaves them struggling to catch Motherwell in the race for fourth place, with its guarantee of European football. Aware that a lot of Hibs fans want their own team sacrifice three points against the Hoops, if it means Hearts find it harder to claim a generation’s worth of bragging rights by being crowned champion, Gray was asked if he would implore punters to provide full support for his players once the game kicks off.
“I'm sure they will,” he said, adding: “I'm sure they will.
“The big thing for me, even when you see the game at the weekend, how difficult it was for the players to try and turn that around and hold on to that result with nine players. But the response and the ovation that the players got, and myself, at the very end of the game.
‘We need them to be there’ - manager’s rallying cry
“I know a section of the fans might have left, and that would be because of not wanting to watch your opposition celebrate after losing a derby – that's natural. But the fans that stayed right to the very end kicked every single ball for the players for the full 90 minutes, trying to get them over the line.
“And when that whistle goes, they'll be there again. And we need them to be there again, as you've just said, to give us the best chance because who knows what can happen this weekend?
“Results-wise, there's so much at stake for every team in that top six. As I've already said, we're still capable of reaching that points tally that we think we need. And if we can do that, we've still got a chance of finishing fourth. That's the most important thing.”
Lying down not an option for Gray’s men
Pressed on whether the slightest suggestion of lying down could work in his team’s favour, with players desperate to avoid allegations, Gray declared: “I think, as I say, it doesn't even enter your mind. I think as professionals, people who have been involved in the game, and you think about the group, their whole life's training and playing to become professional football players.
“You don't get to this level without having that right to want to win and need to win all the time, and I think that never leaves you. You see how competitive training is, every single day.
“These boys are all competing to get into the starting eleven. And that's healthy competition that's there. So, the way you stay in the team is by winning games of football, and your level of performance
“There's motivations, everyone's got different motivations – and that was probably my job this week, speaking to the players about finding that motivation between now and the end of the season. Whatever it is for you, everyone's different.
“It might be family; it might be pride; it might be some people for the World Cup. But, on an individual basis, it doesn't really matter. You do everything you possibly can because you're constantly being judged, you've constantly got an opportunity to showcase your talent.
“And I think at a club like this, what we need to get to, as I've already said, the full focus is European football, so we need to win games to get to that point.”
The lure of securing back-to-back European football for the first time in 50 years is a definite incentive, Gray revealing: “I was at an event the othernight actually, at the stadium, and I was listening to Warren O’hora, Jamie McGrath and Josh Mulligan. Three players – obviously Josh and Jamie, just joined the club in the summer and experienced European football, Warren O’Hora joined the season before – talking about highlights in their career and what they've done and where they've played.
“Obviously, Jamie's played for his national team, but they're talking about the European nights and the feeling, and that level of opposition you're playing against, but obviously, the magnitude and excitement around the games and how good they were to be involved in.
“As a coach, I loved it as well, and it's something that drives me forward, testing myself against different styles and different types of coaches. It's certainly something we want again.
“But I've said it all season. The only way you get that again is with your domestic form being consistent enough. We’ve still got a real chance to do it.
“It's not been done back-to-back for a long time and that's what we need to try and focus on. Between now and the end of the season, we've still got a chance to do that.”