Hibernian Head Coach David Gray insists that a full week ‘on the grass’ ahead of tomorrow’s Premier Sports Cup Quarter-Final with Rangers has been beneficial.
Hibs are back on the road this weekend with a trip to Ibrox for a massive fixture in the League Cup.
Gray’s side have had the benefit of a full week’s training ahead of the fixture, with the Hibs Head Coach insisting that spirits are high.
“It has been a good week, it is something we haven’t had for a long time due to the amount of fixtures, the transfer window closing and the international break when we had a lot of players all over the world.
“To have a full week on the grass has been very beneficial, the players are all in a good place – it gave us a good opportunity to look over the last game in real depth and work out what we need to improve on. Everything is now geared up towards the Quarter-Final of the cup and trying to get to Hampden.”
Hibs ran out comfortable 0-2 winners on their last visit to Ibrox – a result that has given the group a ‘real belief’ according to the boss.
“We know it will be a real difficult test, but we can take a lot of confidence from our last result there and how we have played away from home this season. We’ve been to some very hostile venues in Europe this season and we’ve shown we can be at our very best – tomorrow will be no different.
“We’re playing against a different squad, a different Manager with new ideas, and our team is slightly different this year as well. But we’ve shown the players it can be done, we’ve got real belief when we go along the M8 that we can get a result.
“The belief is the big thing, we are going there to try and get into the next round of the cup. We’ve shown we can get big results; there is a lot of noise around this fixture already, but all we can concentrate on is ourselves. We know we have to be at our best if we are going to get into the next round.”
During his media duties, Gray also provided a team news update which includes two absentees and one returning player.
“Miguel Chaiwa arrived back late from international duty, Gray continued.
“But he has been back the full week in training, which is great. The only other two that are out is Alasana Manneh (hamstring) and Joe Newell who is nearing his way back to full fitness. Everyone else is fit and available.”
