Gray Frustrated After St Johnstone Draw

Hibs Head Coach David Gray was frustrated after his side were held to a 1-1 draw with St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park.

Dwight Gayle’s second-half strike cancelled out Nicky Clark’s first-half penalty meaning the points were shared in Perth.

The hosts were reduced to 10-men after Jason Holt was shown a straight red card for a high tackle on Chris Cadden at the end of the first half. However, we struggled to make our numerical advantage count and had to settle for a point in the end.

Speaking to Hibs TV after the match, Gray admitted he had mixed feelings at full-time.

“We are frustrated, just with the way the game panned out. We started the game really well, created a few good chances, we had one cleared off the line from Chris Cadden which was a big moment in the game.

“They came back into the game and then the red card changes things. From that moment we conceded a poor goal from our point of view. It was sloppy to give away the corner in the first place and then to concede the penalty from there is disappointing. We know we can’t grab players in the box and that gives them something to hold onto going into half time.

“I can’t fault my players' effort in the second half, we tried to do the right thing and we threw everything at it. We made changes to get as many attacking players on the pitch, but if I am being honest I don’t think we worked the goalkeeper enough today.

“That final ball or final shot just wasn’t quite there, we got into good areas today but were erratic at times.”

Despite the result, Gray remained positive and reserved praise for the travelling supporters with over 3,000 Hibees making the trip to Perth.

“Overall, I can’t be too downhearted or disappointed because of how far we have come from in a short period of time. So we need to remain positive on that front, but it does feel like two points dropped especially considering we played such a large period of the game against 10-men.

“It was attack versus defence in that second half, which you naturally expect but we need to dust ourselves down and get ready to go again on Sunday.

“We had 3,000 fans with us today which was tremendous. They have been right behind us this season, through the hard times as well and we will need them again on Sunday.

“We are frustrated right now, but we need to get ready to go again.”