Easter Road will be at near capacity for Hibs first home league game of the 2024/25 William Hill Premiership campaign, and Head Coach David Gray believes the Hibs fans will play a huge part as his side take on Champions Celtic.
“The atmosphere will be vital,” Gray told Hibs TV. “I’ve been there when it’s been good and it’s a special place to play. We’re lucky to be able to ply our trade here.
“The fans have been great, and they will be behind us from that first minute. We will need them to be for as long as the game lasts.
“We want to put in a performance and display that they can be proud of.”
Celtic, come into the weekend in good spirits having beaten Kilmarnock 4-1 at Parkhead last week.
Gray is under no illusions on how difficult the match ahead will be, but had prepared his players in the best possible way to get something from the game.
“It’s a real tough test. One thing I would say is that as a player these are the games you should want to play in. It’ll be a full house at home, live on the tele, to test yourself against the Champions from last season; there’s no better test than that.
“For the new players that came in, these are the reasons why they joined the Club. This is a big club and that have to understand the reputation and demand.
“We will put a game plan in place to get three points.”
Hibs come into this game off the back of an opening weekend defeat against St Mirren, but Gray has been pleased by his players’ reaction this week.
“There’s been a reaction from everyone in the building, and I think the fresh faces help with that as well.
“Competition for places is exactly what you want as a coach, you need it on the training pitch every single day because now they know they need to be at the top of their game every single day to keep their jersey.
“If they’re not there’s a competitive squad behind them to push them all the time.”
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
