Hibs head coach David Gray anticipates a tough test against Dundee at Easter Road this afternoon.
And he revealed that a couple of his regulars in the squad will be missing.
Following the conclusion of the November international break, Hibs sit third in the William Hill Premiership with 18 points from 12 games.
Going into the next round of fixture, where matches will come thick and fast, Gray has challenged his players to come away with a higher points return.
That starts with this weekend’s game against Dundee, who currently sit 11th in the league table.
When the two sides met on the opening day of the 2025/26 campaign, Hibs ran out 2-1 winners thanks to a brace from Kieron Bowie.
A lot has changed for both teams since the opening day, and Gray is more than aware of the challenge in front of him.
“They have definitely evolved and added players. It was the first game of the season and the match was in and amongst our European campaign as well. Both sides are in different places now.
“We’re looking at it as an opportunity to kick start our home form. We went unbeaten for a long time at home, and to have strong domestic seasons your home form needs to be strong. This season we haven’t had the points return at home that we’d want, but we haven’t lost games. The challenge now is to have real strong home form.
“It’ll be a difficult game, but it’s one the players should be looking forward too after the break.”
A number of Hibs players went away during the international break and had a lot of success, returning buoyed from their international exploits. Whilst they’ve come back in a good place, the coaching staff at Hibs have also been able to put a lot of good work into the players that stayed in Edinburgh.
Gray explained to Hibs TV how he’s using the November break.
“It was great going into the international break off the back of a big result, a 3-0 away win against St Mirren.
“The break gave us an opportunity to get a bounce game in which allowed us to get 60 minutes into Alasana Manneh and Joe Newell, who have been out injured. Other players that needed minutes got 90 too. We were able to give some players a rest and freshen them up as well.
“The international players went away, and some have had unbelievable highs, which will only benefit the group too.
“Everyone was back in today, we’re in a good place, and everyone is looking to kick on now.”
In terms of injury news, Gray admitted he has a strong, healthy squad available for this weekend.
“Lass and Joe have come closer which is positive, and Dylan Levitt has been back in training too.
“We have picked up a few bumps and bruises during the international break. Miguel has picked up a virus, so will probably be out. We will give him every chance, but he is weaker than what we’d like at this stage.
“Josh Campbell has a bit of an infection in his toe, so he’s a doubt too. Otherwise, we have a pretty healthy squad to pick from.”
