David Gray was proud of his players’ effort after Hibs secured a hard-fought draw in Denmark meaning it is all to play for ahead of the second leg next week in Leith.
Jamie McGrath opened the scoring with a direct free-kick on his competitive debut for the Club – before Aral Simsir equalised with a set-piece of his own in the second half.
Reflecting on the 90 minutes as a whole, Gray admitted he was proud of the way his players approached the game and handled the occasion.
“It was exactly that – a hard-fought draw”. Gray told Hibs TV.
“First of all, I am proud of the players for their efforts and the overall performance. The first twenty minutes were brilliant, I know we got the goal, but I was really impressed with how brave we were on the ball and the discipline we showed off it.
“The one thing I said to the players when we arrived was ‘you need to believe that you can get a result’. We did that tonight, the first part is done and we need to take confidence from that.
“After the game, I reminded the players that this is only part one – it is only half time in the tie, but we’ve given ourselves a chance –the tie is still alive and we need to keep believing.”
After a robust pre-season schedule, the match was Hibs first competitive game of the 2025/26 campaign, and Gray explained how pre-season helped set them up for this fixture.
“Pre-season is always geared up to setting yourself up for the competitive stuff. We played some tough opposition, the likes of Ajax and Bournemouth and that was all geared towards preparing the players to play against elite-level teams.
“Midtjylland are at that level – they have played in the Champions League and are regularly playing in Europe – so we knew it was going to be a tough test. But the shape, the discipline and concentration all had to be there today, and we got our rewards for that.
“We were brave from the start and got right at them straight away.”
Gray reserved special praise for the travelling fans who made the trip over to Denmark, and explained how much their passion, singing and noise helped spur the players on.
“I always knew when the draw was made that the fans would look forward to this one. What we’ve done as players is give everyone a performance to be proud of.
“It is only half a job though from the players’ point of view, but the fans understand how big a part they can play, and we will need them again next week. We will sell out the Stadium, it is another European tie to look forward to – it is a real tough task ahead of us but one that we are up for.
“We are all in this together, win-lose or draw, they are the ones that pay their money and stick with us. They were all here in their numbers, they played a massive part, and we could hear them all game and I am sure they will all look forward to the second leg.”
