Hibs head coach David Gray expects a tough test against Dundee on Sunday because Tony Docherty’s side are in a relegation battle with St Johnstone at the foot of the table.
Gray spoke to Hibs TV ahead of the final pre-split fixture as his side go into the game with a top-six spot already secured, and the battle for European qualification firmly in the balance.
Hibs are currently unbeaten in their last 16 league fixtures – a run of form that has launched them off the bottom of the table and up into third.
Gray said: “It is another massive game, we’re clearly on a fantastic run of form but the full attention has to be to try and finish with three points before we go into the split.
“We know it will be a really difficult game.
“When we think back to the reverse fixture (November 2024), that was the lowest point of our season to date – we are a completely different animal from when we were then to where we are now.
“We need to make sure that we finish this period with three points and that will be the full focus.”
Hibs go into this one off the back of a memorable 2-0 win away Ibrox their first victory in Govan in seven years.
“The group is really positive,” Gray added.
“The extra day to prepare for the game has been beneficial because we were able to give the boys the day off earlier on in the week, which was great.
“We needed to get a bit of freshness into the players and when you’re winning games of football everybody feels good about themselves and the bumps and bruises don’t feel as sore.
“Everyone has been positive and training has been good as a result of that.
“Everyone is in a really good place and we just want the games to keep coming.”
The visitors, Dundee, currently sit 11th in the William Hill Premiership, however, they have proved tricky opponents for David Gray’s side this season.
Hibs have only taken one point off Tony Docherty’s side this season which was back in August 2024 in a 2-2 draw.
“It will be a real difficult game. With the results last weekend, Dundee are very much a team that will be fighting for their lives, so there’s no easy games and we know that.
“Everyone is at different stages of the season have different things to play for, but as of right now we have everything to play for and so do they.
“They have scored a lot of goals, I think they’ve scored the same number of goals as us which is the third highest in the league.
“So we know they are a constant threat, they force you to defend a lot, they have a lot of high energy players that pass forward and run forward which will make you defend.
“The flip side of that is we know we need to be good defensively. On the other we need to be clinical and make sure we start the game well because Dundee are a team that notoriously start games well – so we need to be ready for that.”
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.
