Hibs boss reveals Scottish Cup final plans as he talks Euro 'incentive' and Celtic's Treble bid at Hampden

Hibs boss David Gray WILL be sitting down to watch Saturday’s Scottish Cup Final with an “incentive” to back Celtic’s bid for a domestic Treble. But he’ll be completing a “bucket list” trip to a little piece of golfing heaven as way of easing tensions before settling into follow a game that will define his team’s path to European football.

A shock Aberdeen win at Hampden would see Hibs, who finished third in the Scottish Premiership with a game to spare, pitched into the Europa League second qualifying round in late July. Celtic are odds-on to complete a clean sweep of domestic trophies at the national stadium this weekend, and that would see Hibs inherit the UEFA placing provisionally allocated to Scotland’s national cup winners.

Gray is obviously hoping to spend Saturday evening celebrating a place in the Europa League play-offs in late August - and, even if Hibs fall at that high hurdle, a guaranteed spot in the Europa Conference League proper.

That would mean EIGHT guaranteed ties, four home and four away, in a league phase that doesn’t wind up until the end of January 2026. With the potential, all going well, to have another two games in the knockout phase play-offs.

With so much at stake, Gray revealed that he’s turning to a favourite pastime to relieve the tension, explaining: “Actually, I am going to be golfing in the morning. I've got a bucket-list game of golf in the morning up at Dornoch, which is something I've never, ever managed to do.

“So that's on the bucket list, which is brilliant. Made sure it's an early tee-off.

“And then we'll sit and watch the game in the afternoon. I always watch it anyway, every year.

“And then, clearly, there's a wee bit of an incentive to be watching it and why we want to watch it. I'm sure these games are always good, so it'll be an interesting one to watch.

“(Assistant coaches) Liam Craig and Craig Samson are going up, and then there's three or four others going up, so it should be quite good. I'm actually fortunate enough to be playing the Friday before and then Saturday up at Dornoch. So, bucket list stuff for me with golf.

"I'm going to a wedding on Sunday, so I'm going straight back down, pick up the missus, and then going to a wedding. lt'll take care of itself at that point. There's nothing else.

Hibernian finishing third in Scottish Premiership an ‘incredible achievement’

“Don't worry about things you can't affect, and we certainly can't affect the outcome of the cup final. We'll definitely be watching on. Interested to see what the outcome is of that.

“But whatever the outcome is now, for the position we've put ourselves in, finishing third in the league is an incredible achievement. And whatever will be, will be.

“Everything happens for a reason, and I say that all the time. And we'll just deal with what comes in front of us.

“We're definitely going to have a European football opportunity from where we are now, and it's up to us to try and make the most of that. And it's something that the players deserve, the football club deserves, and it's something certainly to look forward to.”

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