Hibs' motivation at Dundee revealed as David Gray gives Lewis Miller transfer update after big win

Now he knows the trick is to follow it up quickly with another victory, against Kilmarnock next weekend ideally. That was the problem last season.

It took until November last year for Hibs to collect a second league win, something which put Gray under almost intolerable pressure. This run included a 4-1 defeat at Dens Park against Dundee, who Hibs dispatched with considerable ease at the same venue in between tough European assignments to give their league campaign instant uplift.

“It was a big part of my motivation today,” Gray acknowledged, when asked about last season’s initial struggles. “I heard a lot of people saying last season, 'imagine we had just a poor start, not a very poor start last season'.

“So the mindset of the players is, here's the first opportunity to try and put that right. It was always going to be a difficult day coming up here because of Thursday night (against Midtjylland), people looking at it saying, how can Hibs bounce back? Is there going to be a hangover? Have they got a squad to do it? And this was the best way to answer that. I thought it was a real professional performance and a fully deserved the three points."

Hibs head to Serbia, where they face Partizan Belgrade on Thursday in a Conference League qualifying tie, on the back of a win earned by a quickfire first-half double from the impressive Kieron Bowie. “I think he showed that's the reason why he was brought to the football club, because of the qualities he's got,” said Gray. “You've seen that, I've mentioned a lot about being suited to Scottish football as well. The physicality, he really enjoys that side to the game and he was always one that was going to benefit from a strong pre-season. We're getting (the benefit of) that just now.”

Hibs don’t rotate despite busy schedule

Gray stuck with ten of the 11 players who lost in heart-breaking fashion to Midtjylland on Thursday at Easter Road. “You can get caught up in how many minutes players have played, the emotional side of it,” he said. “It’s not as if we have gone Sunday, Thursday, Sunday, Thursday, Sunday, Thursday. So the players are fresh, they're ready to go and they're all playing with confidence. They want to try and stay in the team.”

Only Jamie McGrath was left out and he came on in the second half for Junior Hoilett, who had replaced him in the starting XI. Gray was later asked about right back Lewis Miller, who has been linked with a move to Blackburn Rovers and is currently sidelined with injury. "It's been well documented there has been (interest) but right now he's still a Hibs player," said Gray. "Until he's not, my focus is trying to get him back on the pitch as quick as we can."

It was a dispiriting start for Dundee and in particular their fans, who booed the team off after watching them muster just two shots on goal, one of which was their counter from Fin Robertson when they were already 2-0 down.

Pressley stressed that he’s realistic and made the point that nearly all the goals from last season were out of the team. As well as the departed Lyall Cameron and Scott Tiffoney, captain Simon Murray was injured. The manager said he saw “green shoots” but the team will need time, with reinforcements a must.

Murray’s return from a knee injury sustained in last weekend’s League Cup win over Montrose is also a matter of great urgency, with a trip to Ibrox to face Rangers looming.

“The truth is that we obviously would hope Rangers, but if that's too quick, the one positive thing is that we have the cup break (afterwards) that gives us an opportunity,” he said, with reference to when the striker might return. “Hopefully, if it's not the weekend, it’ll certainly be after the cup break.”