David Gray has been speaking to the Edinburgh Evening News after his testimonial for Hibs vs Manchester United
Hibs first-team coach David Gray says they must go to Ibrox believing they can take all three points.
Philippe Clement takes charge of Rangers for the first time when Hibs visit on Saturday and the Belgian boss will be looking to get his reign off to a winning start, but the Easter Road side, buoyed by their Edinburgh derby comeback, are also targeting maximum points. Hibs last won at Ibrox in a 2-1 victory in 2018, and Nick Montgomery’s side are desperate to end that five-year wait.
“Entering each game with the intention of winning is crucial,” stated Gray. “It seems like this league constantly demonstrates that.” We know we have to give it everything we’ve got to try to win the three points, no matter who our opponent is, so we strive to accomplish that each and every day. Although we are aware that the game at Ibrox will be tough, we must approach it with the intention of winning.
“It’s just about us. We’ll be concentrating on exactly what we’re trying to do and how to implement that and hopefully we can go there and play to the best of our ability with a gameplan and mindset to try to win three points.
“Rangers and Celtic have both dropped points this season so we know that in every game we have to be at our best and have a shape and a gameplan ready to make sure we can apply ourselves properly and that’s what we’ll do in the lead-up to Rangers.”
Saturday’s match is Montgomery’s sixth in charge of the Easter Road club, and they have yet to taste defeat under his guidance. Gray, who marked his service with the Hibees in his testimonial match last Sunday, scoring the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win for against a Manchester United select, says the new boss has brought a feelgood factor back to the club, with the players buying into his methods.
Gray continued: “I’m really enjoying it and I think you can see that. He’s been great with the players too; everyone’s buying into what he wants to do and is working hard. Results have been good, but we’ll always strive to be better and there’s an opportunity to do that moving forward. But there’s a real feel-good factor at the club at the moment, and I’m really enjoying it.
“Everyone knew the results weren’t good enough, our domestic form wasn’t good enough, and I think when you look at the response we’ve had, which happens naturally with a new manager, that bounce. It’s up to us to work hard and keep pushing the standards every day to take the club forward. I firmly believe this squad is more than capable of competing at the top end of the league.
“Selfishly, I’ve worked with four managers in the last couple of years and I’m maybe one of the only ones to have benefited from it on my coaching journey. I’ve learned from four very different, very good managers with different ways of working but with every manager you’ve got a coaching staff as well and everyone has their own ideas so it’s just about absorbing as much and learning as much as I can and enjoying it.”
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