Jack Ross speaks on Barrie McKay rumours as Hibs boss discusses Jamie McGrath move

Jack Ross has addressed some of the transfer rumours involving Hibs

The former Rangers winger was reportedly the subject of interest from the Easter Road side before penning a deal at Tynecastle Park.

Discussing the McKay links, the Hibs head coach told Sky Sports: "We try to ascertain whether or not there are possibilities of us recruiting players.

"There are lots of different dynamics to that: players’ appetite for the challenge, what they want to achieve, financial aspects… there are a lot of players who we do that with before we put an offer in front of them.

"I could be here all afternoon speaking about players who have been linked with the club and suggested to be on the brink of coming to the club and the truth is that that’s often not the case.”

McGrath bid

The Capital club also attempted to strike a deal for St Mirren attacker McGrath before the transfer window closed, but were beaten by the clock.

“I was consistent about the areas of the squad that we felt we needed to strengthen,” Ross added. “The one area we didn’t was middle to front.

"I don’t think it’s appropriate to comment on other players’ clubs; it’s only fitting if they become part of my squad.

"We continually try to identify really good players and try to bring them to the club. We tried to do that, we weren’t able to do so.

"It’s disappointing and a little bit frustrating but I’ve got enormous faith in the group. They’ve shown why I’ve got that trust in them with what they’ve produced over the last year and a half.”

Fans’ fears

Ross accepted that some supporters might be irked at apparently missing out on targets but stressed the importance of quality over quantity.

“We tried very hard [to add to the squad], but what I would say to temper it is that we’ve been really patient in our recruitment,” he explained.

"It’s very easy to sign players for the sake of it and add numbers to your squad, but we’ve continually worked to make sure that when we bring players in, it strengthens the group.

"I think we’ve recruited successfully in recent times, that’s shown by the number of sellable assets we now have.

"That’s an indication of both our improvement in players and the identification and recruitment of them in the first place and we'll continue to do that over these coming months ahead of the January window.”

Allan and Wright issues?

He also brushed off the notion that it would be difficult keeping Scott Allan and Drey Wright in the group, after the pair had been poised to join St Mirren as part of the McGrath deal.

"I deal with problems every single day in my career as a manager,” Ross continued.

"Unhappiness, complaints, disagreeing with my decision-making – it’s an ongoing process. I’ve done this for quite a while now and I’m used to dealing with it.

"As long as you’re communicating with players and offering them an insight into your thought processes and also understanding where they’re at, then I think you’re in an okay place.”

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