David Gray was delighted with his players’ efforts as Hibs booked their place in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final with a convincing 3-0 win over Ross County in Dingwall yesterday.
Thibault Klidjé opened the scoring with an excellent header, before Adam Mayor converted from the penalty spot to give the His a well-deserved lead inside 15 minutes.
Ante Šuto added a third in the opening period to put the tie beyond all doubt in the first half before Hibs saw the game out with a comfortable second-half showing.
Gray made six changes to the side that were beaten by St Johnstone six days prior and was delighted with the overall team performance and contribution from everyone involved.
Speaking to Hibs TV after the final whistle Gray said: “I speak about it all the time, about the need for the squad to all be pulling in the same direction – it’s really important.
“When you get your opportunity, it’s up to you to try and take that. You just don’t get a turn in football – you have to earn that, you have to work hard every single day in training and be ready to make an impact when you get the chance.
“We certainly got that today, having to rotate the squad a little bit. That’s game one of three massive games this week.
“We’re going to need everybody. We’re very thin defensively, as you’ve seen today as well. Some of the changes were enforced, but some of them were also an opportunity to make sure everybody’s ready to go.
“It was a real collective performance. The boys who got goals, that will do the strikers a world of good. So, all in all, I am really pleased with today’s work.”
The result means Hibs now have a League Cup semi-final to look forward to – with the draw taking place on Sunday afternoon following the conclusion of Rangers v Celtic – and Gray is delighted to return to the National Stadium for the first time as Hibs head coach.
“It’s great for everybody involved because it’s not an easy thing to do. I’ve not experienced it as a manager in the last couple of seasons and it’s something I’ve been really frustrated with, our cup form.
“Because I can’t say every season that I feel it’s a genuine opportunity and then not deliver on that. I think I’m delighted we’re able to do that this season.
“When that semi-final comes around, the players can go and enjoy it, whoever we get.
“We’ve demonstrated at times this season, we’re a very good side that’s capable of beating anybody on their day – if we put it all together.
“When that game comes around, we’ll all look forward to it, I’m sure, the fans included and the Club, because that’s where we want to see our Club as often as we can.”
“I’m really pleased – I think it was much more like us in terms of how you want to start games of football.
“We certainly haven’t done that in the last couple of games, so to get that was really pleasing.
“Everything we spoke about, you say job done, it definitely is, but at the same time, it’s not an easy thing to do to get to a semi-final in any competition.
“The players deserve all the credit for that – they deserve to be in the semi-final for what they put into that today. Added to that, the pressure and what was at stake today, I think there was a lot of noise around it and the players have to deal with that as well.
“More importantly, you look at the club we’re playing against. They’re not a League One team in practice – I know that’s where they are in the league, but it’s a difficult fixture to come up here.
“We all know that, I’ve experienced it myself as a player, I’ve experienced it as a coach, it’s a difficult place to come. All the pressure was on the players today to go and deliver, and they certainly have done that. So, I am really pleased for them – they fully deserve to be in the semi-final.
“It’s all now about recovery and making sure we end this little run of fixtures until the international break in the strongest form we can.”
