David Gray proud of Hibernian players after draw at Midtjylland

David Gray felt his Hibernian players had made him and the fans proud after they secured a 1-1 draw against Midtjylland in Denmark.

Debutant Jamie McGrath’s seventh-minute free-kick put Hibs ahead in a bright opening start for the visitors and they frustrated their hosts until Aral Simsir netted from another free-kick in the 72nd minute.

Gray’s side were well worth their result and only a marginal offside against Martin Boyle prevented them going two ahead in the first half.

Hibs now have the chance to move into the third qualifying round of the Europa League with victory at Easter Road next Thursday.

Gray told Hibs TV: “Firstly, I’m proud of the players for their efforts and performance. Especially the way we started the game, I know we get the goal, but even just the first 20 minutes, how brave they were on the ball.

“And then the shape, the discipline, the hard work, the effort, the collectiveness of the whole group, it had to be there against a real top team.

“This is only part one, it’s half-time in the tie, but we gave ourselves what we needed to do when we came here, which is make sure the tie’s still alive.

“It doesn’t make the challenge any easier back home, we know that. It’s going to be a real difficult game, but the players need to keep believing.

“Coming here, that’s the one thing I said to the players, you need to believe to go and get a result and we’ve done that, so that’s the first part of it. We need to take confidence from that.”

More than 1,000 fans filled the away end and made plenty of noise throughout and there were other Hibs fans among the home support.

Hibs head coach Gray added: “To play for them in the second leg back at Easter Road in front of what will be a sell-out, that home advantage could prove massive. The fans are going to be massive, like they were here.

“I always knew when the draw was made that the fans would look forward to this one, and what we’ve done is we’ve given everybody something to be proud of.

“Now the fans understand how big a part they play, and they’re going to be massive at home. We will sell out the stadium, European nights under the lights, to give us the best possible chance, because it is still a real tough task ahead of us.”