David Gray urges Hibs to change league fortunes in home double header

David Gray has urged Hibs to turn their league form around after being paired with Hearts in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final.

The Easter Road side welcome Kilmarnock and Aberdeen before the international break, having won just two of their five league games.

The most recent Edinburgh derby defeat was followed by a loss against St Johnstone on the road, but Hibs set up a Hampden meeting with Hearts by beating Ross County 3-0 in the cup quarter-finals on Saturday.

Gray believes they can feel good about their start to the season if they see off Killie on Tuesday and the Dons on Saturday.

“We know our home form in the league hasn’t been where it needs to be, and we’ve got a chance for two home games coming up, so there’s nothing more important than Tuesday night to change that,” he said.

“I said that going into this period that you want to try and get as many points as we can going into this international break, and then it gives the players a bit of an opportunity for a breather because it has been really grueling for the group.

“There have been a lot of fixtures, some highs, some lows along the way as well, but if we can finish really strongly, it’s been a really good start to the season when you strip it back.

“There have been some moments within it that haven’t been where it needs to be, but there’s always context to everything, and the biggest and most pleasing thing for me was the reaction at the weekend because of the pressure that the players were under to deliver a big performance and a big result.”