Hibs World Cup warrior gets Euro backing amid transfer business hint as Hanley hailed for early return
Five new signings in for Easter Road side as UEFA Conference challenge looms
Scotland World Cup warrior Grant Hanley has been backed to roll straight back into club action after returning to pre-season duty – and facing up to 45 minutes of testing football on the back of just two training sessions. And Hibs boss David Gray has hinted at squad exits after a busy early summer of welcoming new arrivals to Easter Road.
Gray, who also said he was thrilled to see Scotland hopeful Josh Mulligan fully recovered from ankle surgery and looking stronger than ever on the eve of the new campaign, leads his team into UEFA Conference League action against Kosovan opponents FC Malisheva in Pristina tomorrow afternoon. Hanley was given extra time off after playing in the win over Haiti and defeat to Morocco, the veteran central defender left on the bench for the heavy loss to Brazil as Steve Clarke’s men crashed out of the expanded 48-team tournament in the group stages.
But his club boss revealed that the 34-year-old had asked to return early in order to play in Saturday’s 2-1 friendly win over Brondby at Easter Road, saying: “So Grant has been back since last Monday, pretty much. Obviously he's not had as much time off.
“But Grant being Grant, he's come back in incredible condition - as you'd expect. He doesn't allow himself to really switch off, he wanted to come back as soon as he could, because now his focus is all about European football, and trying to make sure he adds that to a real top CV that he's got at the minute,
“It was good that he got 45 minutes at the weekend, only having trained a couple of times last week, and he'll definitely benefit from that as well. He’s very low-maintenance, you would say. What you see is what you get with Grant; he's a real organiser, real leader, everything you'd hoped when you signed him, he he's certainly been that.”
Veteran defender played in two World Cup group games
Assessing Hanley’s involvement as Scotland ended their 28-year absence from the World Cup, Gray said: “I was delighted for him on a personal level. Everything we spoke about before he joined the club, about the ambition of going to the World Cup, he realised.
“There was the opportunity to go and do that, as I said to him at the time. If you come to Hibs and play well, that’s a very good level – and that can get you into that World Cup squad. I’m delighted he got to do that.
“I watched him play in that first game and thought he was very good. It’s a dream every young Scottish player will have had, myself included, to be able to go and represent your country at a World Cup.
“So to be able to go and do that, I'm sure he'll be really proud. He'll probably not appreciate it that much until he finishes playing.
“When he looks back he can reflect on it, but right now he's not thinking about stopping, he's not thinking about any of that. He's very much focused on the next challenge.”
Mulligan returned from a four-month injury lay-off at the very end of last season, the midfielder – well on track for a first Scotland cap before he hit the turf in January’s Scottish Cup loss to Dunfermline – storming back into action. Gray believes the former Dundee star has added something to his game during rehab.
“I think he looks strong, he looks powerful,” he said. “Obviously it was a big blow that we lost him last season when we did, because he was really coming on to improving all the time, so it was a real blow for him personally - but also for us, for what he was bringing to the team.
“It’s great to see him back fit by the very end of the season. Obviously we'd have liked him back earlier, but that was just one of these things.
“He managed to get himself back fitter, stronger, and you can see that now in his performance against Brondby. I think against a real physical side, he has got that physicality that can deal with it, and I thought he looked really strong. He's in a good place.”
Transfer exits on cards
With Elie Youan the only big name to depart in the summer, at least so far, Hibs have piled up a fair collection of bodies in the first team squad. New additions Nathan Lowe, Callum Wright, Jason Kerr, Adam Mayor and Azeem Abdulai are currently squeezing into a crowded dressing room out at East Mains.
Gray expects that to change in the coming weeks, saying: “Proactive is always the word I use. Every coach wants to try and do their business as early as possible.
“We have got a big squad now as well. I do expect it to be moving in the other way as well at times, because of competition for places, and the size of the squad we've got at this moment in time, which is natural.
“But off the back of that, you then need to be ready that we've got a lot of good players in the squad that might attract attention as well. So we need to make sure that we're always looking, and as you've already seen, for the business we've already done, it's about bringing the right people in.
“It's about being ready if someone comes up that we all believe improves the group, and moves the club forward, that's very much the ambition of the football club.”
If there is one running theme in how Hibs have recruited this summer, it’s in the degree of athleticism that all five players bring to the squad. Hibs will not be run over in Scottish Premiership action this season – or Gray will be demanding answers.
He said: “Yeah, I think you see that, Nathan's a very different profile to what we've already got in the building, probably not had a profile like that since Kieron (Bowie) and Myko (Kuharevich) before that, a real focal point No.9. Which is good to add to that, because it really complements the rest of the boys that are in the building as well.
“And then just a little bit of athleticism if you've already touched on there, boys in midfield with real good legs. So as you say, I think I'm really pleased with the business that's been done, I'm really pleased with where the squad is right now.”