How will Hibs line up for home clash with Motherwell? Gray's options ahead of Easter Road test - predicted XI

They need to close the gap on Motherwell. Have to show that beating the Steelmen 3-0 at Fir Park in their last encounter was an entirely accurate reflection of the gulf between the sides.

It will be tough, of course, for Hibs to return to winning ways after dropping points away to St Johnstone and - let’s be honest - picking up a draw against Rangers courtesy of Rocky Bushiri’s late equaliser at the end of a hectic, frantic and very important festive schedule. But they’ve had the thick end of a week to prepare for this game, while Motherwell played out a fairly grim 0-0 draw at Kilmarnock on Wednesday night.

Hibs should be fresh, fit and ready to fly. Which gives David Gray the opportunity to stand by players who have, for the most part, impressed during a run of just one defeat in NINE games.

There is still a gap to be filled in central midfield, with the absence of injured club captain Joe Newell leaving Gray short of options to partner Nectar Triantis. Hyeokkyu Kwon looked lost against Rangers and, while Nathan Moriah-Welsh added energy as a substitute, he’s short of game time and probably lacks a bit of sharpness as a result.

Hibs could - maybe, possibly, depending on how his big toe recovers from a pretty nasty impact injury - have Elie Youan available as an option on the bench, at least. But do you break up the strike pairing of Martin Boyle and Dwight Gayle? Not if the latter has recovered from playing the full 90 minutes, plus injury time, against Rangers.

There are options to bring Warren O’Hora back into the starting line-up, giving Lewis Miller a rest or moving the Aussie out to right wing back and shuffling Chris Cadden out of the starting XI for a break. But it’s hard to see the gaffer changing much, given the general consistency of his team. Here’s how we THINK Gray will organise his resources for this one: