Hibs transfer news: Gray playing domestic and European numbers game with 'sustainable' squad vow

Hibs won’t significantly expand squad numbers to cope with a potential twin assault on domestic and European fronts, according to David Gray. And the Easter Road boss warns that even qualifying for league phase football in the Europa League or Conference League doesn’t deliver “life-changing money” for teams dipping into elite continental competition.

Gray’s men travel to Denmark to take on Midtjylland on July 24, with the return leg of their Europa League second qualifying round at Easter Road a week later. Hibs are at least two – and possibly three – ties away from guaranteeing them involvement in the expanded league stages of UEFA competition.

Bushiri and Hoilett are back - will Sunderland prospect Triantis be next?

In terms of building a squad to cope with a potentially crowded schedule, Hibs have re-signed Junior Hoilett and Rocky Bushiri, while adding Josh Mulligan, Jamie McGrath and Raphael Sallinger. A number of fringe players have also been moved on, with Nathan Moriah-Welsh, Jair Tavares and Dylan Vente among those to leave.

Gray is still hoping to land Sunderland prospect Nectar Triantis, either on loan or in a £1 million permanent signing. And Hibs are in the market for at least one striker. But the gaffer isn’t focused on adding sheer numbers to his list of available players.

Aware that a number of Scottish Premiership clubs have suffered a drop in league form when competing in Europe, Gray said he had a fair idea of the reasons behind those struggles, explaining: “It's probably a bit of everything, to be honest. I think squad size can be one thing.

“The finances behind it as well. Because very seldom is it the same team that's constantly in Europe all the time.

“So, you look at last season, St Mirren got themselves into Europe, which is a fantastic achievement. And then trying to sustain that at the start of the season and the squad size and budgets and everything else that comes with that.

“It's not life-changing money when you get in for the first time. Unless you’re in the Champions League and what that looks like, probably.

“You need to still be sustainable. You need to still understand what that looks like.

“So, just going and signing 20, 30 players that can go and play in Europe because you need to have a bigger squad. But then what happens if that doesn't go the way you want? Then you've got too many players on your books.

“And how sustainable is that? And then competition for places and trying to manage that group can be difficult.

“So, it's always going to be a balance, trying to do that. And then you also need, when teams do qualify for Europe, to look at the draw to a certain extent. Look at the teams you get, how far you can progress in the competition.

New Europa League and Conference League format offers opportunity

“I really like the new format. I think if you can get into the group stages, I think it's an opportunity for you to do well in Europe.

“And I think the league is getting better all the time, which hopefully gives the Scottish teams better chances when we do get into there. The standard of the league is getting better. I think that we will be more competitive when the teams do get in there.”

Hibs had drawn up two pre-season plans before the end of the last campaign. One based on Celtic winning the Scottish Cup, which would have seen them kick off their European campaign much later.

Having seen the prize of guaranteed Conference League football wrested out of their grasp by the Cup-winning Dons, Gray quickly settled into the alternative schedule. One that already feels more useful than last year’s pre-season training camp, just after he’d been appointed manager.

Midtjylland tie provides clear focus

“I had obviously a couple of plans in place,” said Gray, the former club captain – who leads his team into friendly action against Ajax this afternoon - adding: “One, it helps the fact I've done it before now, so this is obviously my second pre-season. Last year, everything was fresh and new, and I had to try and get new ideas over.

“We've retained a lot of the squad from last season, only two or three players that I've added to the group that don't know how we work. They’ve already started to really bed in, which is great. They've settled in really well.

“I'm delighted with that, with the players that have come in, in terms of how they've settled into the group. Again, that's credit to the players that are already here that have welcomed them in.

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“But definitely, we had to have a couple of plans just because of, like you've touched on, we knew last season pretty clearly that we were getting ready for that first competitive game, which was Elgin in the League Cup.

“So this season, we had to wait to see whether it's going to be the first league game of the season or the second round qualifying stage, which is what we've ended up having to prepare for. So it's a similar sort of time, maybe slightly later than the League Cup, which gives us nearly five weeks or four weeks for when we first came back into pre-season.

“So the two plans were very different, but we've got the friendly games in place, we've got everything geared up to making sure you try and peak at that point, which is that first competitive game away to Midtjylland. Which is a brilliant game for everyone to look forward to.

“It gives you a clear focus in pre-season, and I actually think the friendly games that we've got help benefit that because there's all different varieties in what teams we're playing. You're not playing against the teams you maybe play back in Scotland all the time.

“So it definitely gives us different ways of trying to play things and experiencing different levels of opposition.”

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