Hibs lay out plans for rest of season as Nicky Cadden injury update given after Celtic defeat
Still so much to play for after 15-game unbeaten run comes to end
Hibs head coach David Gray admits it would be a “brilliant” end to the season if Hibs can go on to secure third place in the Premiership after their Scottish Cup aspirations ended at Celtic Park.
The Easter Road side were defeated 2-0 by Celtic on Sunday in the quarter-finals after goals from Daizen Maeda and Adam Idah halted their 15-game unbeaten run in all competitions.
However, Hibs still have so much to play for in the nine remaining league games of the season and could finish the campaign with European football after being bottom of the pile in mid-November.
"It'd be brilliant,” said Gray on the prospect of finishing third. “As I've said there, everything we've set out to do at the start of the season, take away the cups now, because when we sit out in both cups, I always say that you can try and win a trophy here.
“Unfortunately for us, we've had the toughest test, coming into Celtic Park twice in both cups, which is a bit unfortunate. But I think everything we've set out to do in terms of the league campaign is still achievable. And yes, certainly from where we'll be, when I think back to whatever it was after that Dundee game, how many points we had on the board after that number of games, to think we'd be in the position we are now, it takes some effort and the players can't come away like that.
“We've deserved all the praise for that, for the effort and the run we've been on, to turn it around, to give us the best possible opportunity to be successful. Now everything is still achievable, but the message has always been the same, which is we need to make sure we don't get carried away. There's still a lot to play for that can quickly change.
“And there's going to be huge games between now and the split, four games to go before now and the split. But can we accumulate as many points as we can into that? And then once you get into that top six, the aim then is to finish as high as you can.”
Hibs were a clear second best to Celtic on Sunday, who would have won by more had goalkeeper Jordan Smith - who signed a new contract on Saturday night - not made a number of smart saves. The visitors, who were roared on by 7000 fans, only created one chance of note when Kieron Bowie shot straight at Kasper Schmeichel early in the match.
"I think the performance itself, the effort was certainly there,” said Gray. “I thought we really gave absolutely everything. I thought Celtic came out of the blocks as they thought they would. Dominate the ball in areas where they thought they would. But I also thought defensively we were solid at times. I thought the shape worked well. But any time we really had the opportunities to hurt Celtic, our quality wasn't there.
“We turned the ball over too quickly and it became a lot of defending. There was a big moment in the first half. That one chance in the first half was a big moment. But we didn't have enough of them to really say they deserved to get anything from the game to be honest.”
Hibs also suffered a blow when key player Nicky Cadden came off just before the break due to injury. "We don't know the significance of it yet,” was Gray’s update. “It's a hamstring, he's got his hamstring just tightened up. The one positive is he walked off the pitch, so that's a good thing. But it's far too early to determine the significance of it.”
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