David Gray challenges Hibernian to leapfrog Motherwell into fourth

David Gray has challenged his Hibernian side to leapfrog Motherwell into fourth place by coming out on top in a mouthwatering showdown between two of the William Hill Premiership’s form teams.

The fifth-placed Hibees are aiming to make it four wins on the spin for the first time this season while Well, currently two points above them, have lost just one of their last 13 league matches.

With Hibs selling tickets for the match for just £5, a bumper crowd is anticipated at Easter Road.

“It’s a brilliant game, it’s two teams in form, very close in the table,” said manager Gray.

“We’re looking at it from the point of view of something that’s worked really well for us for a long time, especially when I think back to our run last season, it was all about trying to catch that team in front of us and you don’t get a better opportunity than playing the team directly above you at home.

“The incentive the football club has done as well – with the ticketing – has obviously been really well received and we’re expecting a sell-out crowd, which is fantastic.

“We’ll need the fans to get right behind us because it’s got all the makings of a very good game and it’s a brilliant opportunity for us to try and get three points.

“If we do that, we’ll go above the team that we’re playing against, which is all the motivation that we need.”

Hibs lost 2-0 at Motherwell in late November and Gray admitted his team would have to perform much better than they did in their previous match against a side lauded for their style of football under Jens Berthel Askou.

“He’s certainly got a way of playing and I think he’s been very successful – you see that in the results,” said Gray.

“The game we played against them wasn’t the way I see us playing and that’s what frustrated me the most but I’m fully concentrating on what we’re doing and trying to make sure we play to our levels, because if we do that, then we’re a very good side and hard to play against.”

Gray revealed that Josh Campbell was facing “three weeks or so” on the sidelines with a hamstring injury but he expected key duo Martin Boyle and Nicky Cadden to be back in contention for next weekend’s Scottish Cup trip to Dunfermline.

Hibs have been linked with a move for Sheffield Wednesday forward Bailey Cadamarteri but Gray remained typically coy on his January window plans.

“I think the position is still very much as it has been, in terms of working extremely hard to try to improve the group if it can be done,” he said.

“We’re looking to see if we can strengthen the group in certain areas but it’s not as if we’re doing anything in the next 24 hours or anything like that, so I think it’s very much a case of keep working hard and see what comes up and what can be done.”