Hibs boss Gray reveals selection thinking for 'must-win' Scottish Cup clash against Neil Lennon's Dunfermline
Martin Boyle and Nicky Cadden back in contention after injury lay-offs
Hibs will be deploying a full-strength selection for tomorrow’s “must-win” Scottish Cup meeting with Neil Lennon’s Dunfermline, according to David Gray. And the Easter Road boss confirmed today that he should have key players back involved for an intriguing contest against his former gaffer.
The return to full fitness of both Martin Boyle and Nicky Cadden is a major boost for Hibs. Stand-in skipper Boyle, who has eight goals in all competitions, and top assist provider Cadden have both trained fully this week.
With the international trio of Rocky Bushiri, Jordan Obita and Miguel Chaiwa all completely back on full training programmes after their AFCON exertions, and Jamie McGrath recovered from an illness that forced him off early in the second half of last weekend’s 1-1 home draw with Motherwell, Hibs are virtually at 100 per cent strength. And Gray is adamant that he’ll be taking no chances against mid-table Championship opponents without a competitive game since December 27.
“It's a must-win game for this football club,” he said, adding: “You need to go there with an expectation, that’s the main thing.
“We set out at the start of every season, set goals as a club. And we obviously feel we have a genuine opportunity to try and win a trophy.
“This is a difficult game. The most important thing is you get your name in the hat after the 90 minutes - and I think that'll be very clear when you see the team selection tomorrow.”
Socceroos striker limped out of Aberdeen win
As The Evening News exclusively revealed earlier this week, both Boyle and Cadden were cleared to return to a full programme at East Mains on Monday. Veteran Socceroos striker Boyle hasn’t played since limping out of action early in last month’s 2-0 home win over Aberdeen, while Cadden’s last outing was called short after just 30 minutes of the December 27 derby win over Hearts at Easter Road.
Scans on Boyle’s hamstring showed that he’d done no serious damage. And Cadden, who topped the assist charts for Hibs last season, also got positive results from a scan on his troublesome calf – an injury related to a problem that had forced him out for three weeks from the end of November.
Josh Campbell on mend
Gray, who expects Josh Campbell to be back from a hamstring strain in two or three weeks, confirmed that everyone else had come through the entire week’s training schedule without suffering any set-backs, saying: “Yeah, aye. Josh Campbell is the one that's obviously not going to make the game.
“It's good to have everybody back. I did speak a bit about it going into the Motherwell game, obviously we lost Nicky Cadden, lost Martin Boyle.
“We got the results of their scans and they're going in the right direction. That game came just too soon for them, but we always knew they would be back involved this week.
“They've trained this week, which is positive, and everybody came through today, so international players are all back involved as well. So I think we'll go into the game in a real healthy position.”