'Quite a significant injury': Hibs mainstay ruled out for substantial period after training ground incident
Gray explains issue with Ekpiteta and when he will be back
Hibs don’t expect defender Marvin Ekpetita to be back until mid-January at the earliest after the centre-half picked up a thigh injury in training.
The 29-year-old centre-half suffered the blow in the build-up to last weekend’s Premiership match against Dundee and head coach David Gray could not give a positive update on the summer signing from Blackpool, who has become a first-team regular this season.
“We don't know exactly, but it's a number of weeks - it'll be eight weeks, ten weeks, something like that,” said Gray on Ekpiteta. “So it is quite a significant injury, unfortunately.
“He will be missed. He maybe had a bit of a tough start, adapting to Scottish football. Just the challenges of playing, and even just the two games back-to-back against Celtic. That’s a bit of a baptism of fire for someone coming fresh into the league.
“But I think since then, he's defended really well and really settled into the team. And it's a big blow for him because, as you say there, he was really finding his feet in this league.
Explaining how the injury occurred, Gray continued: “Really innocuous in training, just a simple 10-yard pass. He stepped into the ball, went to pass it, and unfortunately just overstretched his thigh in that moment, which is unfortunate. One thing is, is he's very positive.
“You can't worry about things you can't affect moving forward. So he's been as positive as he can to try and get back as quick as he can.”
Gray will once again have a big decision to make with regards to his goalkeeper for Saturday’s Premiership match against Motherwell after dropping Josef Bursik for Jordan Smith during the week.
Smith made his first start of the season in Scotland’s top flight during Tuesday’s 3-3 draw against Aberdeen but was at fault for one of the goals and showed signs of rust, given he had not played a league match for three-and-a-half years.
Gray threw his backing behind the 29-year-old former Nottingham Forest stopper Smith, who is expected to start at Fir Park.
“I think when you've got a goalkeeping department of three, there always need to be options,” said Gray. “I think they've got the opportunity every day in training.
“Obviously, that department is coming under a bit of criticism and scrutiny at the moment. I was very honest with the three goalkeepers, as I have been over the course of the season so far, about showing faith in them and sticking with the players during difficult times.
“I think, especially for goalkeepers, it's not such a hard department where when they make mistakes, they get punished. So the one thing I don't want to be doing is chopping and changing all the time.
“You want to be giving the players as much confidence as you can so when they go on the pitch, they've got the confidence and belief that you've got faith in them when they go on there.
“So, listen, again, I'm going to have decisions to make on that department just purely because of the nature of it. And I understand why I'm getting questions asked about it.
“But, you know, even look at Smudge coming in, to be thrown into the situation he was, just because of the scrutiny in that department. The fact he hadn't played for such a long time as well.
“And then after the game, when you look at it, he's been at fault for one of the goals, which he knows, he accepts that. But this is when he relies on his experience.
“I know he's not played as many games recently for a long time, but he's still played at a very good level. He's a very experienced guy and a really hard-working person. And he's responded in a real positive way, which is good.
“I wouldn't say he's loud, but he's a very good character in the dressing room. He's very knowledgeable about the game. He's played at a very high level. He's been around the highest level in the Premier League. So he's been in dressing rooms where he's at the top level.
“He's not played as much as he would like, but he's been fantastic in terms of character, even when he's been sitting on the bench to Joe Bursik, he's fully supportive of that. He's very good. I think they've always got that sort of goalkeepers’ union, where they all sort of pull in the same direction and they all want each other to do well.
“And then it's up to him now when they get the opportunity to try and grasp that as much as they can and stay in the team.”
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