Hibs strike pair bouncing back from Rangers misses as staff rally round Swansea loanee and ex-Newcastle ace

The Hibs backroom staff have been trying to “lighten the mood” around Myko Kuharevich following his Ibrox penalty heartbreak – by making him the target of good-natured banter. And gaffer David Gray insists he has no concerns about both of his main strikers bouncing back from an afternoon of near misses in Sunday’s 1-0 loss to Rangers.

Kuharevich completely fluffed his lines from the penalty spot when presented with a glorious chance to equalise for the visitors just before half-time, stumbling his way through a stutter-step run-up before making a weak connection that allowed home goalkeeper Jack Butland to fall on the ball. Substitute Dwight Gayle, making his first Hibs appearance after becoming a free agent recruit after the transfer window closed, also saw a close-range header fly just inches wide of the target with Butland beaten late in the game.

Revealing that Swansea City loanee Kuharevich had been on the receiving end of some choice comments from goalie coach Craig Samson, Gray said: “Since the weekend I think Myko was obviously disappointed, disappointed at half time, but I thought he reacted really well to that. And then since then, we've left him a couple of days - and Sammy's been giving him a bit of a stick about it since!

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“So that's what he needs to do, let him lighten the mood a little bit. I think he played really well on Sunday, so I have no concerns about him.”

Gayle looked furious with himself, meanwhile, for not hitting the net after a superb bit of forward movement put him on the end of Chris Cadden’s cross in the dying stages of the game. Gray says that reaction is a testament to the 34-year-old former Newcastle and Crystal Palace striker’s demanding nature.

“You don’t play at the level he’s played at, and score the number of goals he has, without having that instinct,” he said, adding: “I think Dwight’s very unlucky with his header. He was also unlucky just before it, when he comes on, he was a fraction from getting on the end of something from a throw-in, just as he gambled across the front post.

“With the chance, I think he knows himself, he gets probably too good a header, if you can have that. I think the goalkeeper's beat all ends up.

“It's a great ball for Cadds, it's a good move up into that point as well. It's another one of those what if moments, I suppose.

“I could see it in the reaction on the TV when I watched it back, Dwight knows himself (that he should have scored). But the pleasing side to it is how we got to the chance we created at that point. We just needed one of them to go in for us at the weekend.”

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While the forward players could do with a goal to boost confidence, goalkeeper Josef Bursik will be flying after making a huge save to prevent Rangers from making it 2-0 in the second half. Gray says the keeper’s point-blank stop on Cyriel Dessers was crucial despite the loss, declaring: “Going to places like Ibrox, you need your goalkeeper to do that. I think it's a massive moment in the game because I felt like we were really coming into it, and it would have all been undone at that point if they score there.

“You've seen it a lot, haven't you? You feel like you're coming back into it at Ibrox, then they go up the pitch and score a second one - and it kills the game there and then. So it's a massive moment in the game, it kept us in it.

“As for what it does for Josef personally, like I say, I think it was a big moment. But I thought even take that save away from it, his decision making, his calmness on the ball, his quality on the ball was excellent. And as you can see, I think everybody's getting stronger the more games we're playing and the more understanding we're getting. The things we’re working on together every day are definitely benefiting everyone.”