David Gray hails ‘massive nine points’ as Hibernian make it three straight wins

Hibernian boss David Gray hailed a fantastic week for his side after they defeated 10-man Kilmarnock 3-1 to record their third victory in the space of seven days.

The Easter Road side backed up their 3-2 victory over Hearts in the Edinburgh derby last weekend with a 2-0 success over Aberdeen in midweek.

And two goals from Elie Youan helped set up a victory over Kilmarnock which leaves fifth-placed Hibs just four points behind second-placed Celtic.

“It’s been a really good week. I think over the piece we deserved it, it’s a massive three points and a massive nine points over the course of the week — it’s everything you’d have hoped for,” Gray said.

“This is a really difficult place for us, I think it’s 2020 that we last came here and won.

“I thought we started really well, on the front foot, moved the ball well, some really good passages of play on a difficult surface — real control in the game and we thoroughly deserved to be in front.

“Our quality dropped in the second half. Some of that was down to Kilmarnock, they had a bit of a reaction and were more aggressive, but massive credit to the players for finding a way to make sure they found a way to get the three points.”

Gray’s side grabbed the lead when Youan headed home in the fifth minute.

A defensive lapse led to Tyreece John-Jules prodding home an equaliser in the 57th minute, but Youan doubled his tally with a neat finish from close range to restore Hibs’ advantage after 71 minutes.

The home side were then reduced to 10 men after David Watson was shown a straight red card for a poorly timed lunge, and Jamie McGrath added further misery by slotting home from the penalty spot in stoppage time.

Gray reserved special praise for Youan, who has had to bide his time this season but stepped up to the mark after being introduced in place of the injured Martin Boyle.

“Elie will get plaudits for his performance, his goals, and what he brought to the team — rightly so,” said the Hibs boss.

“He takes his goals really well, he had another couple of chances too that he’s probably a little frustrated that he didn’t convert.”

Kilmarnock interim boss Kris Doolan took charge for what looks set to be his last match, with the Rugby Park club expected to announce a new manager early next week.

He believes the hosts’ reaction in the second half will provide cause for optimism for whoever steps into the role.

“I think we started the second half the way we want to start games,” Doolan said.

“In the first half, I didn’t feel like we laid a glove on Hibs.

“It was just unfortunate we couldn’t capitalise on the fact that we got ourselves back in the game, but we showed a lot of character to get us back in the game.”