Hibs boss in 'rock bottom' claim - as return of forgotten man Doyle-Hayles provides post-derby positive

Hibs boss David Gray believes his team are already showing signs of bouncing back from “rock bottom” – despite remaining stuck to the foot of the Scottish Premiership table. And the rookie head coach says the return of a forgotten first-teamer after 14 MONTHS on the sidelines was just one of the positives to take from yesterday’s battling draw at home to Hearts.

Hibs were within touching distance of winning the first Edinburgh Derby of the season heading into the final four minutes of regulation time at Easter Road, only for teenager James Wilson to cancel out Mykola Kuharevich’s go-ahead goal for the hosts. Gray, who had seen his players drop to the bottom of the Scottish Premiership after turning a win into a loss by conceding TWO injury-time goals against Dundee United at Tannadice on the previous weekend, said he saw some signs of hope in yesterday’s performance.

And the former skipper, trying to lift his men ahead of Wednesday night’s clash with Ross County in Dingwall, declared: "Sometimes you need to hit rock bottom to start building again - and we've done that against Dundee United, hit bottom of the league. Yes, we still find ourselves there, but we got a point in the derby.

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“Now, it's not a disaster at all. Would we have wanted three? Yes. But we need to then quickly change that narrative and think about the fact that it’s a point, it's something to build on.

“We need to quickly get points on the board, but we need to build on the fact that we got a point after three defeats. The situation we find ourselves in, we've got an opportunity to try and change that straight away. My full focus at the moment is on Ross County.”

Praising his players for managing to at least secure a point over seven minutes of injury time, Gray admitted: “I thought both teams probably played the game with a fear not to lose because it was a bit scrappy. There was a lack of quality at times within the game from both sides and that's probably just to do with the magnitude of the game at times and situations.

“But every time we did show a bit of quality, I thought we created chances. So that's again a real positive.

“Then obviously to lose the goal and drop the two points towards the end is a huge frustration. But then if I go back to the Dundee United game, we went on and lost the game against Dundee United.

“There was still plenty of time, having got pegged back to 1-1 against Hearts, that there were questions asked after that - and the boys stood up to that. So that's a positive to take from there as well; Craig Gordon was the next goalkeeper to make a save after going 1-1.”

Gray was thrilled, meanwhile, to be able to give midfielder Jake Doyle-Hayes – without a competitive game since August of 2023 due to a series of injuries and set-backs – a return as a late substitute yesterday, saying: "It's excellent for him. He deserves it for how hard he's trained.

“It's been a difficult time for him. Frustration with injuries and challenges that we've had - but at the same time it's just how hard he's worked to get back in there.

“It's good to see him back on the pitch obviously, and then the magnitude of the game and everything else just shows you that I had no concerns about him coming on just because of the type of player he is, his temperament and the quality he's got which he's been showing in training recently, which is good. He's obviously not fully match-fit because he's not had the game time in his legs, but he's obviously been back training for a while now and building on that fitness.”

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Confirming that the Irishman’s initial ankle injury – suffered in training under predecessor’s predecessor Lee Johnson – had now been completely dealt with, Gray said: "Yes, he's fully recovered and as I say he's in a good place at the moment. He's working hard, doing all the things he needs to do and he's available for selection which is good. 

“He’s played in these games before. He's that type of character. He doesn't get fazed by occasions. He's got quality on the ball and as I say he's been training well so I've got no concerns over Jake Doyle-Hayes at all. 

"With the quality he's got, how well he's trained and just his attitude every single day, I think he's someone that, as well as the players have already got in the middle of the pitch, has real strength and depth and quality and competition for places so he's like everybody else. He's going to work as hard as he can to try and get in the team because there is a lot of competition in there as well.”

Joe Newell is back from suspension for the trip to the Highlands, while Nicky Cadden is closer to a return – but brother Chris Cadden didn’t train with the team today.