3 days ago
David Gray not too downhearted despite Bolton defeat
Hibs head coach David Gray admits his players could have been 'better' during yesterday's defeat to Bolton Wanderers at Easter Road.
However he was pleased to see former teammate Darren McGregor honoured at his Testimonial Match, and remained buoyant despite the off-day against English League One opposition.
Two second-half strikes sealed the win for the visitors as Hibs struggled to impact the game as much as Gray and his coaching staff would have liked.
After the final whistle he said: 'It wasn't our best, most fluent performance by any means. We all know that. There's a lot of improvement to come.
'We've got a lot of hard work still to be done and we've got a really good game to look forward to on Thursday.
'I'm really happy with our pre-season, but today I think we can be miles better. We know the areas we can be better in.
'We'll be back in on Monday and we'll need to make sure we are bang at it to improve.'
It was a competitive encounter between the two sides, with Steven Schumacher's side offering Hibs a tough, physical test in torrential conditions.
According to Gray, the difficulty of the fixture was no different to other pre-season matches so far however, but instead just a different style to play against.
'When you look at all of our games in pre-season, they have all been difficult games.
'The standard of the opposition we have took on, that is all with European games in mind because of the variety in teams you can potentially face.
'Today was more of a domestic challenge we would face week in, week out in Scotland – which is high intensity and very aggressive.
'I'm not getting too downheartened by what I have seen. A lot of good work has been done and I'm happy with the fitness levels of the players.'
Gray also touched on Darren McGregor's warm reception at Easter Road, with the current Hibernian Under-19s Head Coach and former Hibs centre-back's service to the Club celebrated with a Testimonial Match.
The two defenders both won the 2016 Scottish Cup together, with Gray only having great things to say about his former teammate.
'It's a special day for Darren and his family. I wish we had a better result for him but, on the whole, for what he has done for this Club, it was a fitting testimonial and I'm delighted to be part of that for him.
'As I've said, it is a special day for a special person who has given a lot to this Club. It's his childhood club, the team he grew up supporting and he has spoken very honestly about what this Club means to him.
'He deserves all the praise and accolades he's had over his time at Hibs, because he has certainly left nothing out there for them.'
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