Hibs reaction: David Gray digests Midtjylland, responds to Grant Hanley transfer talk, Danish take on tie

An 119th-minute overhead kick from Junior Brumaldo edged the Danes into the next round 3-2 on aggregate, meaning Hibs drop into the Conference League for a clash with Serbian side Partizan Belgrade next week.

On an intoxicating night in front of a sold-out Easter Road, Hibs fell just short - but Gray was delighted with the effort and application while admitting defeat was hard to take.

"Very mixed emotions," said Gray, "I say it all the time, I hate losing, so I'll never accept losing games of football. But I can't ask the players for any more. They gave me absolutely everything.

"It took three spectacular efforts to beat us over the tie against a real top team. So it is, as I say, I'm proud of the players, proud of the effort, what I got from every single one of them. But ultimately it's a bit raw at the minute because you lose the game.

"The players can take a lot of pride for the way they defended, the concentration. That needed to be the challenge to the players before we played a team of this level, is you need to be at your very best all the time. That's the level, that's the concentration levels required. And as I say, I can't fault the effort, I can't fault what they've given me over a course of 210 minutes.

Gray was asked about speculation linking Hibs to Scotland defender Grant Hanley. The 33-year-old is a free agent after leaving Birmingham City last month and was at Easter Road to attend the tie.

"I think we're just always looking into the squad to see what can be done," was Gray's diplomatic response. "I think right now, whilst the window's open, you're always going to be getting speculation and rumours. But for me, I'd rather talk about the players that are in the building tonight, purely because of what they've given me. I think that would be the right thing to do. And then we'll look at that down the line."

Asked if he thought a sold-out Easter Road would have impressed any potential signing that might have been here watching, Gray said: "I would think so. It was a fantastic night in terms of the atmosphere. The fans were outstanding. The amount of tickets that were sold, the backing right throughout it. Because being there as a player, there's no better feeling than when you start to feel tired and the crowd get right behind you.

"They've certainly done that. They drove the players on for 120 minutes, which was fantastic. Because there's periods in the game where Midtjylland had a lot of the ball, but the fans didn't turn. They didn't get frustrated with that. They stuck behind the team. They cheered every single action. And that's credit to them, which I knew they would be because they've been right behind us."

Gray will now have to pick his players up for Saturday's Premiership opener against Dundee. "That's the challenge for myself and the staff, because they're not robots," he said. "They gave absolutely everything there. They're flat, they're deflated, because they came so close.

"And the manner they go right at the very end makes it even harder to take. So it's very different if we're completely outplayed from a higher-level opposition, and then it's one of those ones where you can just move on quickly. I think, as I say, they came so close, they gave us absolutely everything, so it's difficult to just switch off and then just be like, oh, it's alright, we'll just move on to the next one.

"So our job is to make sure we get around them, we rest, make sure the recovery is there, and the attention very quickly changes towards Dundee. So the fresh challenge of what that faces. That is, again, the domestic stuff and how well we did last season.

"European ties are a reward for how well we've done, so we need to make sure we start the season well. Dundee will be a real tough test, because they've got a new manager, they'll have new players that want to impress and have a different way of playing. We need to be ready for that challenge."

Midtjylland manager Thomas Thomasberg admired Hibs' resoluteness but felt his team was worthy of progressing to a third qualifying round tie with Norwegian side Fredrikstad next week.

"I feel the better team won but I give credit to Hibs, we had to work hard in both games but I think we were the best team," said Thomasberg. "We struggled in both games but we are through to the next round and that was the aim. We didn’t think we would walk through to the next round, Hibs was a difficult opponent but we are happy to get through."