Sunderland loanee thriving in new position at Hibs as he turns into dominator after red card setback

David Gray can see Sunderland loanee Nectar Triantis continually improving at Hibs.

The Australian returned in the summer for a second loan spell at Easter Road, after ending last campaign in Leith. He has been moved from his natural defender role to a defensive-minded midfielder, so far playing 13 Premiership matches. Head coach Gray can see him playing in the engine room going forward.

He said: “I think he's had a couple of tough moments in his Hibs career, one thing he always does is he always takes responsibility, which is great. I think he's in the last couple of weeks shown a level of consistency again. He's improving all the time, you forget he's still a young boy, he's still learning.

“He's still probably adapting as well at times to a different position, because he's not played as many games in the middle of the pitch as he has at centre-back in recent years. I think he's done well in there, and I think it's definitely where I see him playing.”

Gray was in the coaching crew when Nick Montgomery managed Triantis during his first spell on loan at Hibs from Sunderland. A defensive mindset is part of the reason why the current head coach sees him moved up a place in the team, explaining: “I think it's when you've got probably different players around them as well, so when you think about other players that are playing beside them, when you've played centre-back you've naturally got that little bit more of a defensive mentality when we lose the ball.

“Whereas maybe other players that have played in that position previously might have been more forward thinking, so I think you naturally have that little defensive mindset there. His first thought might be to do that rather than to try and empty the middle of the pitch for example. But also he's comfortable on the ball, he's good with both feet.

“His range of passing is good, so when you look at the physical attributes he's got, he's fit enough to get about and covers the ground well, so he's got all the attributes to be a really good number six, which is what I've always thought he would be.”

Triantis has also had to deal with setbacks like a sending off for two bookings vs Motherwell in a 2-1 loss, and his response has Gray impressed with his mental fortitude. He added: “Dealing with mistakes at times as well, not always getting it right. If I go back to his red card for example, I think that affected him a little bit, because he's playing the game at times.

“Not wanting to get booked or whatever it might be. It probably affected him slightly, but I think in the last two or three weeks he's been much more like himself, much more dominating in the middle of the pitch. I think his performances have been much higher as a reflection of being more on the front foot and not worrying about giving away fouls or playing with a fear of getting a yellow card because of what happened previously.

“So he's learnt from that which is great, but he needs to keep kicking on now and really push on, because he has still got competition in there as well with the rest of the players within the squad.”