Hibs need starters AND finishers to turn season around as super subs told to stand ready for action

Hibs boss David Gray believes it will take a full squad effort to put his team’s season back on track. And he’s stressed the need for substitutes to “finish” games when called upon to leap into action.

Gray believes he now has the strength in depth enabling him to improve his on-field XI by introducing fresh blood at the right stage of a contest. With Hibs sitting tenth in the Scottish Premiership after picking up just one win from their seven league games, the pressure is on to turn results around.

And the rookie head coach, explaining how managing the bench is becoming as important as picking a starting line-up, revealed: “I always say the same thing at the start of every game. My message is very clear. The team that starts the game very, very rarely finishes the game.

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“So it's more important the ones that are on the sidelines waiting to come on, that they come on and take the opportunity and are also watching the game, knowing how they can come on and affect it. I think that's the role of a substitute

“I think actually the idea behind putting a sub on is to try and make you better at that stage as well. You know, if we've got it to the point where you know you're not weakening the side by bringing on another one of the players, which I firmly believe everyone that we've got, we can affect the game in a positive way obviously. The standard of player that we're able to bring on is great now.

“So it's an opportunity when they go on to try and contribute to try and start the next one. If you've got aspirations to play for the club, you want to try and get in the team as much as you can and contribute as much as you can.”

Despite Kieron Bowie’s horrendous hamstring injury, Gray is dealing with a mainly healthy squad, with club captain Joe Newell and Martin Boyle expected to return from injury lay-offs after the international break. Hibs should, in theory, have multiple players competing for each starting spot.

The manager, who named the same XI in back-to-back fixtures as Hibs lost narrowly to Rangers at Ibrox before suffering a self-inflicted home loss to Motherwell, insisted: “Competition for places is good and it is healthy, it drives the standard in training. Of course, it is a lot easier if you are winning games.

“I think if you are not winning, it is all about how you play at the time. Individual performance, the performance as a team, how are we doing, tactically do you need to make changes depending on the position you are playing at times or fatigue or whatever it might be.

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“So to be able to have the squad to be able to rotate is great and it's a headache that I want to have. I've got a lot of good players to be able to bring on at any time, to be able to go for it towards the end. It's great from a coaching point of view.

“If you're quite consistent in your team selection, you've also got a group of players there who will be desperate to play. I think it's about keeping it competitive in training and making sure that you're very clear with your message and honest with every single player. Make sure everybody fully understands their position and we're all pulling in the same direction.”