David Gray ‘can’t accept’ Hibs ill-discipline against ‘very aggressive’ Celtic

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David Gray has slammed his team’s lack of discipline after their defeat to Celtic.

The match was tipped in the Hoops’ favour early on, when Jamie McGrath was dismissed for a very late tackle on Alistair Johnston.

This is nothing new for Hibs — in fact, it was their fourth red card in as many games. Gray had no complaints regarding the decision, but was certainly ruing it.

Reacting to the game, which Martin O’Neill’s men won 2-1, he said that he ‘couldn’t accept’ it.

David Gray: Jamie McGrath red card vs Celtic ‘out of character’ vs Celtic

After the game, Gray said: “I can’t criticise the players that remained on the pitch, because they gave absolutely everything, which is a given. That’s what you expect. You have to put your body on the line.

“And going down to 10 against Celtic is very different as well, because the quality they’ve got.

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“They make the pitch really big, they probe, they move it very quickly, and they’re very aggressive. They pin you all the way in.

“So we had to change shape again at half-time, make a couple of changes, because if you stay in a back four, they’ll put you in a back five very quickly, even a back six at times.

“So we had to change that. I thought that worked really well. We nullified Celtic, although obviously they had a lot of dominance, but shots from distance, which is what you need to try and do, get bodies in between the ball…

“And players defended the box with their lives. The bit that frustrates me is the two goals we lose are avoidable.”

On the red card, he said: “I can’t defend Jamie’s one because that’s just, you know, everybody knows, especially in the modern day, if you leave the ground at all and you lunge, you’re putting yourself at risk.

“Now, that’s completely out of character for Jamie McGrath. I’m not just directing that at him.

“But as a group now, as a result of that we’re making subs, as a result of that you’re going down to 10 men.

“And we can’t just accept the fact that that’s alright. It’s not. I’ve spoke about it already. But nobody does it on purpose. Clearly. But it goes back to what I said at the very start.

“In that moment, it’s a lack of discipline, a lack of professionalism because of you taking that chance. And the minute you leave the ground, you take that risk.”