David Gray was always confident he would get Hibernian on the right track

David Gray insisted he always knew his Hibernian team would come good as long as he was given time to steer them through the “real adversity” they faced earlier in the season.

The Edinburgh club’s board had to issue a statement backing their rookie manager in November amid intense pressure following a 2-1 home defeat against St Mirren that left them bottom of the William Hill Premiership after a string of costly late goal concessions.

They have been vindicated for keeping faith with Gray as the 36-year-old has overseen a run in which Hibs have taken 16 points from the last seven games and won each of the last four to climb to seventh place, within three points of the top six.

“It’s something I’ve been quietly confident about, that if given the time we could turn it around,” he said.

“I always believed we could, because of the quality of the players we’ve got, because of the ways in which we maybe lost games, or how the games had went, and I had a real belief in what we were doing.

“But I also knew the players still had a belief in it. That was the thing that kept me going, that the players still believed. They still worked hard, there was a massive togetherness, and you’re starting to see the benefits of that now.

“It’s all about belief and momentum, and building on that, and building that together. The connection between the fans and the players has been there for the last few weeks, and I think that’s something we need to keep growing.

“We’ve experienced tough times this season, and we’ve been through real adversity if you think back to how the season went at times, especially here. The fans were clearly frustrated, and rightly so, because of what we had returned in terms of points.

“We have turned the corner in terms of results and performances, but in this league, as you’ve already seen, everybody beats everyone and it can change very quickly, so we need to keep moving forward and keep trying to improve, because we need to start moving up towards that top six first and foremost.”

Hibs have been linked with with Hearts goalkeeper Zander Clark and Rotherham’s Cameron Dawson after Josef Bursik – who started the season as number one – was dropped following a run of poor form and replaced by Jordan Smith last month.

Gray gave little away when asked about his plans to sign a new keeper.

“Listen, that (goalkeeping) department has never stopped working hard,” he said. “You always need to be proactive, nothing could be done until January when the window opens.

“If something can be done to make us better, and it can be done, we’ll look to try and do that.

“But at the same time, where we are just now, I’m delighted with everyone at the moment and I think we’re in a good place, good moment.”

Hibs are waiting to learn the extent of injuries that forced Joe Newell and Jack Iredale off in Sunday’s 1-0 win over Kilmarnock, while Gray is hopeful that Elie Youan will be back in contention for Thursday’s trip to St Johnstone after a foot injury.