Hibs goalie crisis - Gray reveals 'honesty and faith' policy as gaffer addresses 'scrutiny and criticism'

Three goalkeepers on the books, and not a safe pair of hands between them? You could certainly forgive Hibs fans for veering towards that line of thinking.

Having seen No. 1 Josef Bursik finally put out of his misery, supporters watched back-up keeper Jordan Smith flap at a cross to gift Aberdeen a goal in midweek. The fact that third-choice goalie Max Boruc isn’t being considered for a start - at least not yet - hardly bodes well, either.

If David Gray desperately sounds like a man trying to make the best of a difficult situation, well, that’s probably understandable. What do you expect him to do? Start throwing his last lines of defence under the nearest bus?

“I think when you've got a goalkeeping department of three, there always need to be options,” said Gray, when asked about his alternatives for today’s trip to Motherwell, the rookie head coach adding: “I think they've got the opportunity every day in training.

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“Obviously, that department is coming under a bit of criticism and scrutiny at the moment. I was very honest with the three goalkeepers, as I have been over the course of the season so far, about showing faith in them and sticking with the players during difficult times.

“I think, especially for goalkeepers, it's not such a hard department where when they make mistakes, they get punished. So the one thing I don't want to be doing is chopping and changing all the time.

“You want to be giving the players as much confidence as you can so when they go on the pitch, they've got the confidence and belief that you've got faith in them when they go on there.

“So, listen, again, I'm going to have decisions to make on that department just purely because of the nature of it. And I understand why I'm getting questions asked about it.

“But, you know, even look at Smudge (Smith) coming in, to be thrown into the situation he was, just because of the scrutiny in that department. The fact he hadn't played for such a long time as well.

“And then after the game, when you look at it, he's been at fault for one of the goals, which he knows, he accepts that. But this is when he relies on his experience.

“I know he's not played as many games recently for a long time, but he's still played at a very good level. He's a very experienced guy and a really hard-working person. And he's responded in a real positive way, which is good.”

Smith looks likely to retain his place, then. Which at least shows consistency.

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Explaining what he likes about a goalkeeper held in reserve for much of the season, one League Cup misadventure in Kelty apart, Gray said: “I wouldn't say he's loud, but he's a very good character in the dressing room. He's very knowledgeable about the game.

“He's played at a very high level. He's been around the highest level in the Premier League. So he's been in dressing rooms where he's at the top level.

“As you've already touched on, he's not played as much as he would like, but he's been fantastic in terms of character, even when he's been sitting on the bench to Joe Bursik, he's fully supportive of that. He's very good. I think they've always got that sort of goalkeepers’ union, where they all sort of pull in the same direction and they all want each other to do well.

“And then it's up to him now when they get the opportunity to try and grasp that as much as they can and stay in the team.”