Gray preparing for home opener to new campaign
Hibs boss David Gray has praised Elie Youan for ignoring the “noise” around his future to concentrate on getting fully fit. And he’s revealed that a fan favourite will need to wait for a scan before being cleared to play again.
Queen’s Park visit Easter Road on Premier Sports Cup business tomorrow night, with the hosts looking to build on their 5-0 weekend trouncing of Elgin City at Borough Briggs. Gray’s first home game since being officially appointed as successor to Nick Montgomery gives the rookie head coach a chance to generate some early season excitement.
Speaking after today’s training session, he addressed fitness concerns over Chris Cadden, Harry McKirdy and Jake Doyle-Hayes. And admitted that Youan is still being monitored after recovering from the illness that kept him out of Saturday’s season opener.
Youan has been the subject of interest from more than one club over the summer, with Hibs believed to be holding out for a deal in excess of £2.5 million. The French winger, who travelled with the first team to their pre-season training camp in the Netherlands earlier this month, was well enough to train again this morning.
And Gray insisted that the 25-year-old remains unaffected by market movement, saying: “Elie has been fine. He’s in a position where, yes, there’s been a lot of noise. But he’s contracted to Hibs, he plays for Hibs. And his job is to apply himself to the best of his ability.
“That’s what he does. He’s a professional footballer. When you’re at a club like Hibs, you need to be respectful of what is around you – and what it means to play for a club like this. We’re doing that at the moment, and all pulling in the same direction.
“Elie trained this morning after illness. We’ll have to see how he comes through because this morning he really got his heart rate up for the first time, so we’ll need to see how he reacts and assess it from there.”
Providing a more in-depth injury update ahead of the first home game of the campaign, Gray said: “Chris Cadden is going for a scan, so we’re still waiting, just to make sure. Until we get the results of that, we don’t know.
“Obviously he came off in the first half against Elgin, with a tightness in his quad. So we’re just managing that one.
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