Hibs' Gray confident despite Midtjylland pedigree
Hibernian head coach David Gray has reminded his players Midtjylland are a Champions League-quality side but says the Edinburgh side are "confident" of progress in Europa League qualifying.Gray believes Thursday's visitors, who thew drew 1-1 with Denmark, remain favourites and emphasised their quality with a 6-2 thrashing of Sonderjyske in the Danish Superliga on Monday night, an improvement on their 3-3 opening draw with OB Odense."That was all we could hope for from the first leg - to make sure you're still in the tie," Gray said."You've got something to play for in the second leg, knowing what that would do as well with the support and European football back at Easter Road."
Fredrikstad, who finished sixth in Norway's Eliteserien, lie in wait for the winners."As you would expect, the players have trained really well, full of confidence, take a lot of confidence from the last game," Gray said."But we are also very quick to remind the players that it is only half time in the tie - it's a real difficult challenge we still face. Just because we've done so well over there doesn't mean it becomes any easier just because we're at home."They are a top team that's played in the Champions League. I keep saying that to the players. They're off the back of Monday night, they had a real positive performance and result, so they'll become a bit more confident."Gray thinks his side will have to "replicate that level of performance at least" from the first leg to progress.Due to the small number of Danish fans making the trip over to support their side, the home contingent is set to be more than 18,500, breaking records set since Easter Road Stadium was redeveloped.Hibs having recovered from a torrid start to last season to finish third, routinely buoyed by an emphatic home support in crucial games against top-six opponents, Gray knows that energy from the crowd can play a huge part in the result."We're well aware of the challenge, players are well aware of the challenge, but these are the nights you want, this is why you do it," he said."A sell-out crowd, I believe. Because they've only got a few hundred supporters coming over, this will be the most Hibs supporters at a game for 40 years, potentially."The academy is doing so well, the women's team is doing so well, the feel-good factor around the football club at the moment and the fans play a massive role in that every single week."Midtjylland first-team coach Allan Jepsen is wary of the extra motivation the Hibs players will receive from a large home crowd. "We managed to get the ball into the dangerous zones several times, but we just weren't skilled enough," he told his club website. "The quality when we get in there needs to be higher."And it's clear that we don't want to repeat the start from last time. We can hopefully be the dominant team from the start."
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Australia right-back Lewis Miller and midfielders Joe Newell and Rudi Molotnikov missed the first leg for Hibs through injury and will be absent again.Head coach Thomas Thomasberg made five changes to his starting line-up for Monday's domestic victory.
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Hibs are looking to reach the group/league stage of European competition for the first time. Midtjylland reached the Europa League's new league phase last season - the fourth time they have progressed through the qualifiers in five years.Hibs have won two and lost one at home to Danish opposition in European football.After a 4-0 win over Staevnet in 1962, they defeated Odense 2-1 in 2006 but lost 1-0 to Brondby in 2016 and lost the tie overall on penalties.Midtjylland have yet to record a victory in Scotland, losing 3-1 to Rangers in 2019 and drawing 1-1 with Celtic two years later.Midtjylland assistant coach Morten Rasmussen has fond memories of playing against Hibs, scoring a winning goal as a Celtic substitute in a 3-2 victory in 2010.
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