Hibs interim boss David Gray thrilled to pick up win amid ‘gruelling’ schedule

Posted Monday, September 04, 2023 by PA

Hibernian caretaker manager David Gray credited his side for the hard work that led to them beating Aberdeen to earn a first cinch Premiership victory of the season.

There has not been too much for Hibs supporters to smile about in recent times, but they now go into the international break with a much-needed 2-0 win under their belts thanks to goals from second-half substitutes Adam Le Fondre and Christian Doidge.

Victory also saw Hibs climb off the foot of the table, moving above St Johnstone and Aberdeen, who who are both still searching for their first league wins of the campaign.

Gray, who has taken the reins following the sacking of Lee Johnson and saw his side exit the Europa Conference League at the hands of Aston Villa on Thursday, said: “The opportunity and incentive today was to go ahead of Aberdeen in the league.

“Our schedule has been gruelling with around 12 games in six weeks, but that’s reward for the success we had last year. This is the most important thing and I’m delighted we came away with the win today.

“We’ve been conceding too many goals of late, but David Marshall makes a very important save at 0-0. We’ve needed to be harder to beat and the players have bought into that.”

Aberdeen boss Barry Robson conceded his side looked tired after their own European exploits and is looking forward to the international break as a chance to help his heavily revamped squad get to know each other.

He said: “I think you were looking at two tired teams today. We tried to freshen things up today and put lots of fresh legs on, but the heat and effort we’ve put in caught up with us.

“Hibs were the same and I think they managed it a little bit better than us. I thought we looked a tired team and there were players we wanted to take off but weren’t able to.

“It was a difficult day for us, but we’re honest enough to know that we need to be better.

“It’s a good time to get all the new players together and let them get to know each other. We will get better game-by-game, and we’ll have the opportunity to work with the players who aren’t away on international duty.”