Shaun Maloney admits it’s hard to get Hibs Scottish Cup hero David Gray to boast about his Hampden heroics from 2016.
But according to midfielder Josh Campbell, the man granted an unofficial knighthood by the Easter Road faithful as a result of his late winner against Rangers ended a 114-year wait to get their name on the trophy again, doesn’t need to say a word to inspire the current stars.
A giant picture of his 92nd- minute celebrations looks down on them every day at their East Mains training base – and speaks volumes.
Ahead of tomorrow’s Scottish Cup quarter-final at Motherwell, Hibs boss Maloney revealed he has been inspired by watching re-runs of coach Gray’s magical moment – as are his players.
Campbell said: “I was there in 2016 and was going wild when Dave scored that winner. I ended up with a few bruises, but it was the best day ever.
“We’ve got a big poster of Dave in the gym, which says ‘90+2’, so you can always look up at that.
“And it’s good to have him around. He’s been brilliant with me, always helping me with little clips from my games. He says ‘look, I’ve done it, why can you not do it?’.
“There’s Paul Hanlon and Lewis Stevenson as well, and to have that experience in the team is a big help.
“I’m a Hibs fan, so winning the Cup would be a dream come true.”
Maloney is desperate to clinch his first trip to Hampden as a manager by beating Motherwell, who the Hibees beat on penalties at Easter Road at the same stage last season.
It could be a similarly tight affair tomorrow but Maloney knows the importance of the cup competitions to Hibs.
And while Gray prefers to play it cool, Maloney enlisted icons including Pat Stanton, Jackie McNamara, Gordon Rae, Graham Harvey and Micky Weir to spur his side on.
He said: “That footage from 2016 is something that motivates me and should be motivation for everybody at the club. The scenes are just amazing.
“I have David Gray on my staff and he doesn’t speak about it much, even though I ask a lot.
“It’s not just David, there are players here who played in that game. They are winners.
“I try to get lots of ex-players to the training ground as much as I can and part of that is because they achieved great things at the club and all our players should get motivation because these guys were sitting in their seat and achieved something special.
“They will forever be in the history of the club and the more of these people in at the club, the better.”
Maloney also hopes the Cup can snap his side out of a barren run in front of goal.
They have scored in just two of their last 10 league outings and the gaffer said: “I do love the fact how good we are defensively but there is a balance. We have not been ruthless enough and it’s in that final area where the work has to go into.”
