Hibs latest: Motherwell game claim, Suto Australia reaction and Mulligan injury update

The two sides are separated by six points ahead of Saturday’s Fir Park showdown. Hibs are currently fifth in the Premiership, a position that will only earn a European place for next season if Celtic win the Scottish Cup.

“It’s a huge game,” said the Hibees boss. “The points difference right now is six points, and that’s all the motivation the players need. That’ll be what I’ll be saying to my players, and through the wall at Motherwell it’ll be exactly the same, so I think it’s a really interesting game between two really good sides.

“It’s not a ‘must win’ because there’s 24 points still potentially to play for but every game is massive now and we’re playing against the team directly above us, so that’s all the motivation we need.”

Gray admitted his Well counterpart Jens Berthel Askou has been a breath of fresh air for Scottish football since taking charge at Fir Park last summer.

“He’s done incredibly well,” said the Hibs boss. “With sticking to his principles and the way he wants to play the game, he’s been very successful. He’s brought freshness to the league as well, he’s certainly been a real strong addition.

“We’re up against a quality manager tomorrow, they’re a really good side, but we’re a very good side as well and from a neutral point of view, it’s set up to be certainly the game of the weekend, with the race for fourth place for us and the carrot of guaranteeing European football.”

Gray was delighted to see January signing Ante Suto earn a first call-up for Australia this week. “Playing for this football club and playing at a high level, international managers notice that and I think he deserves the opportunity for what he’s done,” said Gray.

“He’s really hard-working, he still needs to improve, he’s still got things to learn, but he’s certainly got a lot of good attributes that were a big reason why we tried to bring him to the club. We believe he’ll be very successful in Scottish football and he’s certainly going in the right direction.”

Gray revealed key midfielder Josh Mulligan has resumed light training after an ankle injury sustained in mid-January.

“He’s back on the grass, certainly going in the right direction,” said the manager. “I don’t expect to see him before the split. Even though he is on the grass and progressing really, really well, it’s not something we’ll be rushing through, just because of the nature of the injury.

“He is out for a period and one thing we certainly don’t want to do is have a recurrence or a breakdown. We’ll be very heavily guided by the professionals and the experts on when he’s going to be back. Even though he is on the grass, I don’t expect him to (play) before the split.”