Soaring Hibs now 'hunting' teams in Euro spots as gaffer Gray hails 'incredible turnaround' in 10-game run

David Gray hailed the “incredible turnaround” of his Hibs team after they stormed into the top six courtesy of a 3-1 home win over Motherwell. Stuck at the bottom of the Scottish Premiership just four weeks ago today, Gray says he’s now “hunting” the teams ahead of him after extending his side’s unbeaten run to seven games.

The first-year head coach, backed by the board during a dismal start to the season, has guided Hibs to six wins and a single loss in the last ten fixtures. And he declared: “The return in the last ten games has been incredible, the turnaround.

“With what we've done, we've given ourselves a real opportunity now to push on. The task before the game was to try and get into that top six.

“We've still got ten games to go before that's settled. We need to make sure we keep picking up points quickly and make sure we're in there.

“The next target, as always, is obviously to try and win the next game - but catch the person in front of you. That's been something we've had to do a lot this season, because we were at the bottom of the league for a long time. No matter how quickly or how often it was chopping and changing down the bottom, the full focus was catching the team in front of us.

“You see how tight the league is at the moment, how quickly things can change, and I think that's the benefit of trying to take one game at a time. I know it's an old cliche, but when you have that mindset and that mentality, you’re just moving on to the next one and hunting down the team in front. “

Nicky Cadden had to be removed from the game early with a head knock, Gray reporting: “He's got a bang right on the side of his nose. I don't know exactly, but it looks like a potential broken nose, which is unfortunate. There's no real issue, other than the fact that his nose is all over his face, I suppose!”

Explaining his thinking in handing Dylan Levitt a first start since early August, Gray said: “I felt what he would give us today is exactly what he did, a bit of control on the ball. We needed to make sure we dominated the ball, make Motherwell have to run about a lot, and he's got a lot of composure on the ball, and can really dictate where we play.

“Second half, he fatigued, he's not played a lot of football, and he got a bit of a bang on his knee as well, but hopefully that's nothing too serious. So he can be happy with what he's done today, having been waiting for his opportunity for such a long time.

“He falls into that same category as a lot of the players that haven't been playing as much as they would like to - but still continue to be the best they can be in training, so when they do get the opportunity, they're able to step in, and that's credit to them.”

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Pleased to have sent the home crowd home with another win to celebrate, Gray said: “As long as they're happy and they're singing, that's what we need. They’re right behind us, which they have been for a number of weeks now. All season, to be honest, even during difficult time.

“But you can feel that around the stadium, the connection is there at the moment, which is fantastic. We need to keep using that.

“They need to keep believing and keep pushing us forward because they do play such a vital role, and we need to make sure with the games we've got left, especially before the split, I think we've got five home games, five away games, that they'll support us right to the very end.”