Hibernian head coach David Gray firmly believes adjusting to “expectation and demand” will lead to a strong season for the Easter Road club.
Hibs start their new Scottish Premiership campaign against Motherwell on Sunday, live on Sky Sports, with Gray urging his players to step up to the guaranteed expectation from the fans.
A fifth-place finish last season secured back-to-back European qualification, and the former Hibees captain wants more of the same.
Sunday 2nd August 4:00pm
Kick off 4:30pm
“Ideally, you want to start the season on the front foot and get off to a very good start,” he told Sky Sports News.
“The pressure as a manager at any club never goes away. I think that’s something that will always be there.
“The biggest thing we took from that run [last season], I’d say, was sticking together.
“That’s very much what I can feel and see already within the training ground. A real collective bunch that are all pulling in the same direction, which is the first thing you need.
“You need the players to be buying into that, which I’m certainly getting as well.
“The expectation and demand is always there and that comes with that, so new players coming in have to adjust to that very quickly.
Head coach David Gray is aiming to secure European football for a third successive season
“There is a level of expectation that is set by the football club, the fans and ourselves.
“We want to be successful again, like Europe, back-to-back. That’s what this club needs to be and that’s what we’ll be striving to do again this season.
“It might be more difficult because it might require a fourth place finish or you need to try and win a trophy, which is something else that we always set every season as well.
“Under my tenure here, it’s something we’ve not been as successful as I’d like to be in terms of cup runs, but again, an opportunity.
“The demand and the expectation and where we think we can set ourselves is when we put it all together with the squad we’ve got, we know we’re a very capable side that can put a real strong run together and compete at the top end of the league.”
Gray has made five summer signings so far while holding on to his key players from last season.
“I’m really happy with where we are from a physical point of view, from the work we’ve done early in the window,” he added.
“I think whilst the window’s open you do always have to be looking, you have to be proactive all the time.
“When you look at one thing I’ve been very grateful for is the fact the support we’ve had very early.
Nathan Lowe has joined Hibs on loan from Stoke City
“Ideally, every manager would want that. Day one, all your players in as early as you can. Not always possible, as everybody knows, but the fact we’ve been able to do that.
“In certain areas we are a wee bit bloated as well, so I fully expect not every player wants to play every minute of every game, but they certainly should want to.
“I’m expecting a bit of movement in certain areas there.
“But we still always, right from the top all the way down, we look at the squad to see if something can be done that we believe makes us better and to take the club forward.”
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