Head coach wants ‘right types’ to enhance squad
Hibs head coach David Gray says the club is hunting “the right type of player” - and admits there is no further update on the future of last season’s loanee Nectar Triantis.
Gray has already brought in goalkeeper Raphael Sallinger, midfielder Josh Mulligan and playmaker Jamie McGrath in this summer and is keen to swell his ranks, particularly in the final third. There is also a desire for Triantis to return from Sunderland after an excellent 2024/25 campaign.
Sallinger, Mulligan and McGrath all started Hibs’ 3-2 pre-season win over Rot-Weiss Essen on Wednesday night, with Sallinger saving a penalty late on and McGrath opening the scoring. However, with Hibs’ Europa Conference League qualifier against FC Midtjylland a fortnight away, transfer activity is likely to be cranked up.
Hibs' Lewis Miller was taken off with an injury.placeholder image
Hibs' Lewis Miller was taken off with an injury. | SNS Group
“We’re always looking,” Gray said on potential transfer business. “We know the areas we still need to look at and we’re trying to improve so when the window closes we’re in a stronger position. We want to make sure we bring the right type, it’s not a case of just bringing in numbers.”
Probed specifically on Triantis, Gray continued: “No immediate update. We made it clear how well he did here that we’d be interested. His parent club have been promoted, he’ll be looking at options and what’s there and trying to impress there. Why would you not want to do that after doing so well out on loan. But we’re making sure we’re not singling one player for one position and we have got our targets. Things can change and that’s the difficult job of the recruitment department.”
Gray felt the run-out against German third-tier opposition Rot-Weiss Essen was valuable. “It’s always nice to win games, especially at home,” he said. “It was a good exercise for both teams. The fans added to the occasion, it didn’t feel like a friendly which was good.
Hibs head coach David Gray watches his player during the win over Rot-Weiss Essen.placeholder image
Hibs head coach David Gray watches his player during the win over Rot-Weiss Essen. | SNS Group
“It’s about minutes in the legs at this stage and we started with good intent. We started the second half very slow but we made changes and reacted and credit to the players. I know it’s only pre-season but it’s a good habit. There’s loads of improvement, the goals we lost and we need to make sure we’re improving all the time.”
The only negatives were injuries to Lewis Miller (foot) and Elie Youan (back). “It’s very early but both we’re hoping were more precautionary,” added Gray. “Millsy was a kick, he’s up walking about so we’ll have to asses him but we weren’t taking any risks. Elie felt a stiffness in his back which was hampering him when he was running and you could see that so we weren’t taking any risk in making things worse so hopefully things settle down really quickly.”