Hibs gaffer's verdict on 16-year-old new boy as Gray makes Scottish Cup 'in it to win it' declaration
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An inspirational debut from a 16-year-old academy kid, a show of controlled force against non-league opposition – and steady progress towards the ultimate ambition of lifting the Scottish Cup at Hampden. If nobody at Hibs is reading too much into this afternoon’s 3-0 win over West of Scotland Premier League leaders Clydebank, there are still positives aplenty to be gleaned from a fairly low-key day at Easter Road.
Head coach David Gray, who says lifting the Cup remains an optimistic but realistic goal for this Hibs team, saw Kieron Bowie and Mykola Kuharevich return from injury lay-offs. And he handed a debut to young Lewis Gillie, who had played – and scored – for the under-18s just last night.
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Hide AdGray hopes the sight of the young defender, a natural left back who is big enough and strong enough to play in the centre of defence for the youth teams, coming onto a hero’s ovation is a moment that will live with Gillie forever. And he says it should provide inspiration to Hibs academy kids dreaming of their own big break.
The former club captain, who threw Gillie into the fray for the closing 20 minutes and changed his formation to accommodate the youngster, said: “He's got his opportunity, which is great. He's joined in training with us quite a few times.
“He's just a really good athlete. You know, he's really good going forward.
“A real strong, powerful boy for his age. Left-sided. And even when you see him when he comes on today, you know, every time he's came in training with the first team, he's never really looked like he's nervous or, you know, playing within himself.
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Hide Ad“He just comes over and does what he does, which I really like about him. He's got a really good attitude.
“Obviously, he's got a lot of work to do still. We know that. He's still a very young boy.
“Today will give him a lot of confidence but also give the academy confidence and a real boost for them as well. Because we want to bring young players through as often as we can, which is great.
“And it gives the rest of the young boys a look in from the outside to say: “I want that to be me, you know, if we can get that opportunity.” So, it's great for everyone involved today.”
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Hide AdWith a few players still working their way back to full fitness, Hibs are not yet at 100 per cent strength. But Gray is confident that, with an addition or two to follow before the January transfer window closes, he’ll have a squad deep enough to challenge on two fronts – in pursuit of silverware AND chasing down a place in European competition via their league placing.
Top six and Cup win aim
The gaffer, who has steered his team from the foot of the Scottish Premiership to just inside the top six with ten games to go before the split, said: “We’ve had a bit of a tight schedule recently, but I think the full focus, I've always said, at the start of every season when you play for this football club is there's a real opportunity to try and win something. That has to be the goal.
“Obviously, it's very difficult to do. Of course, it is. But it is a genuine thing that we can try and achieve. So, the goal has always been the same.
“We all want to finish in the top six, challenging for European places. And that's still achievable, which is great.
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Hide Ad“And then we're in the next round of the Cup and we want to go as far as we can in that. We have full focus on trying to win it.
“That's why you're in it. That's why we do it. And I think the schedule will just be what it is. You just need to keep moving on to the next game.
“I think it's important to have as healthy a squad as possible. I think we've got a lot of players nearly coming back from injury.
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Hide Ad“You know, Kieron Bowie back today, Myko back today. Joe Newell's not far away. Elie Youan’s not far away.
“And then we've got Marvin Ekpiteta slightly further away. So, he'll probably be looking at the end of February time before he's back.
“But there are five players that are real strong players that can come back into your squad, which is good. Whilst the window's open, we're always looking to try and improve as well.
“And if the right people come up that we feel can make us better, we'll definitely try and do that, which is positive. And I think the key is to try and make sure when the window closes, we're in a stronger position than when the window opened.
“That's the challenge. And to make sure that we kick on with our position we've put ourselves in in the league. And we're going to need everyone as part of our squad to be able to do that.”