Hibs Coach David Gray Urges Team Confidence for Challenging Celtic Fixture

Hibs head coach David Gray is encouraging his squad to believe they can achieve a positive outcome during their “daunting” away match against league leaders Celtic. The Hibs team travels to Glasgow having moved off the bottom of the table, a result of their draw with Aberdeen and a 3-0 victory at Motherwell last weekend, which marked their first win in 10 games. Although Celtic secured a 3-1 victory when the teams met at Parkhead in the League Cup in mid-August, Gray wants his players to draw inspiration from their recent performances. “You talk about pressure and expectation, Celtic will be the team that are expected to go and win so they have to deal with that,” he said. “We just have to look at ourselves and build on what we did at the weekend and take confidence from that and go and believe you can get a result. It’s a really difficult place to go, the players have already been there, they are a great side with top players and a top coach so it is a daunting task, we know that. It’s certainly one that if you believe you can go and get something, then why can it not be us? But you need to have the confidence that you’re not just going there hoping, you need to go there and believe in what we’re doing and back yourself in these situations.” Gray noted that some of his players aspire to compete among Europe’s elite and expressed his desire for them to demonstrate their capability against Champions League players. He added: “It’s also a really good test that the players can look forward to, testing themselves against Champions League players. A lot of players who are in my squad at the moment have aspirations to go and play at the highest level they can. So it’s a great opportunity for them to test themselves against a good side in a great arena.”