Hibs predicted XI for Kilmarnock clash as injuries and form impact on David Gray's selection choices

On the slender side of thin in defence, over-burdened with options up top. Not what you’d call the most balanced selection situation David Gray has ever seen, as the Hibs boss looks to pull together a starting XI - plus a few impact subs - to face Kilmarnock at Easter Road tonight.

The Edinburgh club head into the Scottish Premiership contest with spirits buoyed after their one-sided win over Ross County in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final in Dingwall on Saturday. But they know Killie represent a different sort of a test, altogether.

Despite the Rugby Park side sitting at the bottom of the top-flight table with just one point from five games, Neil McCann’s men - who lost on penalties to Aberdeen in their own quarter-final on Saturday night - will boast more quality than County. As Gray points out.

“Neil’s been frustrated probably with losing too many goals,” said the HIbs boss. “But since Neil's been there, he's done a brilliant job. You think about how quickly they turned it around, the way they play, the risks they take at times.

“I think they're very well coached. I expect to see that again, I see that again in the last couple of games. So I expect a tough test.

“He's very demanding of his players, as you see. So it'll be a real tough test for us to make sure that we need to be right at it and maintain our levels and the standards we can set because it will be a tough game.

“Both of us have played on Saturday as well, so it's not as if one team's fresher than the other .I know they went to extra time, but at the same time, it's not as if we've had a clear week to go and prepare for it.”

Grant Hanley returned to training yesterday but isn’t likely to feature tonight, meaning he’ll join Rocky Bushiri, Jordan Obita and new signing Marko Ivezic on along list of absent defenders. Gray has very few options in pulling together his back line.

He’s got plenty of choices in midfield, of course. And the fact that both Ante Suto and Thibault Klidje scored on Saturday may cause some reconsideration about his pecking order at the business end of the team, although Nathan Lowe is likely to start - and Martin Boyle will be pressing his case for a return.

Owen Elding was fit enough to make the bench in the Highlands, albeit in a ‘break glass in case of emergency’ category only. But he could feature at some point tonight.

Here’s how we think Hibs will line up for the first of two league games in the space of five days: