Hibernian

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Dundee are without Ziyad Larkeche (hamstring) and Scott Fraser (groin) as well as Julien Vetro, who is with parent club Burnley as he prepares to return to contention after fainting prior to the match against Kilmarnock earlier this month.

Goalkeeper Trevor Carson could be back in the squad, but captain Joe Shaughnessy (knee) is still out.

Hibs welcome back Mykola Kuharevich after suspension and Lewis Miller could return after missing the defeat by St Mirren through injury but Kieron Bowie (hamstring) remains sidelined.

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Chris Cadden says struggling Hibs' game at Dundee on Saturday is "about mentality".

Under-pressure head coach David Gray's side are bottom of the Premiership, albeit with a game in hand, after just one win in their opening 12 matches.

"We know the results haven't been good enough and performance hasn't been good enough," defender Cadden said.

"In terms of tomorrow it's about mentality. We can do formations, 4-3-3, 3-5-2, whatever it is, it doesn't really matter unless the mentality is right.

"That's what our focus is to be on. It's going to be tough as we know but from a player's point of view the mentality has got to be spot on."

Cadden was "delighted" the board put out a statement in support of Gray, who has overseen a poor start to the season in his first managerial role.

“I've known the gaffer for a while now and he's been brilliant," Cadden added. "He's especially been brilliant to me as a player, a coach and as a manager.

"So personally I was absolutely delighted but we know that results and performance need to change.

“If you've got to do it for anyone, go and do it for the gaffer as well because we all love him and we're all right behind him.

"That gives you an extra motivation, we'll go and try and get three points for us, for Hibs but for him as well."

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Hibs boss David Gray has been speaking to the media as his side prepare to face Dundee on Saturday.

Here are the main points:

• On the statement of support from the board, Gray says he "understands why questions are being asked" but the backing came as "no surprise".

• On whether he had to ask for reassurances from the board, Gray says: "I'm constantly explaining decisions, why we do things" but insists he didn't fear his time was up.

• He knows results are "not good enough" but fully believes he can turn things around. Gray won't "point fingers" but instead feels as a collective they need to improve.

• He adds: "I look at myself first and foremost. I think that's something I've said to the players on numerous occasions about accountability, looking at yourself, asking can you do more? But sticking together through times of adversity when things are tough; there's no point in feeling sorry for yourself. It's not going to change by doing that."

• Gray "takes a lot of belief from how quickly things can change" but stresses he's not looking beyond Saturday's game at Den's Park.

• The Hibs boss wants to see a "reaction" from his players after their defeat by St Mirren last time out.

• Gray says there is no ultimatum from the board in terms of results and/or points needed to keep his position but is "well aware" he needs to start winning games, and quickly.

David Gray has had plenty of time to stew over an abysmal home defeat to St Mirren, which was followed by the dreaded vote of confidence from an under-fire board at Easter Road.

The 36-year-old looked in a state of deep shock as Stephen Robinson tried to offer a few consoling comments at full-time, while the words in a brief statement on the current predicament did not amount to much.

Gray has managed just one Premiership victory since getting the gig on a permanent basis in the summer, leaving Hibs propping up the table.

A run of three draws, two of which featured the now familiar concession of a late goal, had suggested the team was capable of more. However, the feeble showing against St Mirren has fans worried their club may be heading to the Championship.

Players appeared totally drained of confidence and the lack of fight must have hurt Gray, who was such a fierce competitor in his days as captain.

Every passing fixture list brings a 'must-win' game for Gray and the good news is Dundee have only beaten Hibs once in their last 16 top-flight meetings.

But another sorry set of stats tells us Hibs have only won one of their last 15 away league outings (D8 L6) - and are winless in seven (D3 L4).

Read all the weekend Premiership picks

We asked you what the one thing nobody is talking about in relation to Hibernian - good or bad.

Here's what some of you had to say:

Scott: Nobody but a small number of fans via blogs are talking about more involvement or takeover from Black Knight. Make it happen before we're relegated.

Andy: Where is the development squad? Hibs have signed a plethora of players supposedly for a development squad, there is a youth team that did well in Europe and a massively underperforming first team. Why are the first team not under pressure for their places? Just another dismal failure from Hibs' recruitment team?

Jason: All eyes where on what successes and fortunes we would have with the arrival of the Black Knight consortium. But we seem to be going more backwards than ever. Maybe it's time for all shareholders and owners to sit down and find a plan soon before relegation looms again at Easter Road. Surely we can afford a manager good enough.

David: Why is no one talking about the relationship with the Black Knight group? It has gone very quiet since the interview about getting into Europe and then eventually challenging for the league. Where has the finance and ambition gone and what are the Black Knight group thinking about the current state of affairs?

Grahame: As a club we have a rookie manager with inexperienced assistants, the director of football should be sourcing a experienced set-piece coach, someone like Austin MacPhee who is presently available after leaving Aston Villa and until recently the Scottish national team.

Ron: The discrepancy between the standards of the first team and the development squad/academy. We have a struggling senior team while the youngsters seem to be winning for fun. Time for youth to be given a chance - which always used to be the way at Hibs? Maybe their "desire" would help?

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• Dundee have won just one of their last 16 top-flight meetings with Hibs (D7 L8), a 3-1 victory in May 2022 under Mark McGhee.

• Hibs have won four of their last seven top-flight away games at Dundee (D2 L1), more than their previous 12 beforehand (W3 D3 L6).

• Dundee have conceded 2+ goals in nine of their last 10 league games (21 total), including each of their last four in a row since a 1-0 win at Motherwell in October.

• Hibs have only won one of their last 15 away league outings (D8 L6), and are winless in seven (D3 L4) since beating St Johnstone 3-1 in April last season.

• Dundee have had more direct attacks (20) than any side in the Scottish Premiership this season, while only Celtic (94) and Rangers (94) have forced more high turnovers in the division this term than the Dark Blues (83).

It has been a dismal season so far for Hibs as they prop up the Premiership with an underperforming squad.

Novice manager David Gray is battling to improve the team's fortunes and avoid becoming the latest Easter Road boss handed his P45.

Amid all the turbulence, what is the one thing nobody is talking about regarding Hibs - good or bad?

Let us know., external

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

It's been all quiet at Easter Road since the statement from the board that gave their backing to David Gray.

But let's not beat about the bush. Gray and his backroom team know results must improve otherwise the next statement coming from the club could be announcing his departure.

The home loss to St Mirren will still be hurting and for the players the last 10 days or so should have been more than enough for them to digest the seriousness of the situation.

It is utterly unacceptable for a club the size of Hibernian to have only one victory in the league at this stage of the season.

As I have said on many occasions, the fans deserve better, and it's now time for the team to step up and show what they are capable of.

Dundee will be no pushovers however. Tony Docherty has assembled a decent squad that can at times play very attractive football.

But for Gray and his players this week it doesn't matter how Hibs perform. When you are down the bottom of the table the only thing that matters is a win.

Even if it comes from an own goal in the eighth minute of added time, no one at Easter Road will be complaining.

This weekend is all about travelling back home with three points that could lift the club off the bottom of the Premiership.

Charlotte Cohen
BBC Sport Scotland

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Bottom of the Premiership table, one win in 12 games and just eight points from a possible 36, it's been a miserable season so far for Hibs.

What are some of the bleak numbers behind this poor run of form, though? We've peaked behind the curtain and taken a look at some.

In front of goal, Hibs have found the back of the net just 11 times - only Ross County (10) have scored fewer. As a result, the Edinburgh side are greatly underperforming their xG of 14.68 so they're almost four goals worse off than they should be.

Their shot conversion rate is also poor, the poorest in the league in fact, at just 7.24.

To put that into perspective, top of the table Aberdeen have a shot conversion of over 17, while St Johnstone, who narrowly avoided relegation last term, are on 11.35.

While Hibs have unleashed 152 shots over their 12 matches so far, only 41 have been on target. They're third lowest in the league with fellow strugglers Hearts and Kilmarnock the only teams with fewer efforts on target.

At the other end, David Gray's side have made three errors leading to goals, that's the second highest in the top flight - only Dundee have had more.

At this point last season, Hibs were seven points better off having played one more game and recorded three wins and six draws.

This season, their one victory has been compounded by 11 points lost from winning positions - the highest in the top flight. The closest teams to that number are Dundee and Killie who have dropped eight points when they've been leading.

Conversely, Hibs have only picked up one point from a losing position, that is also the second worst in the top flight.

Little to be positive about down Leith.

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Twelve games played, one victory, bottom of the Premiership table. No wonder the fans at Easter Road are questioning what is going on.

There was so much hope and expectation just a few months ago when David Gray was handed the job on a permanent basis.

A young manager who had done well in his numerous interim periods in charge, a club legend who will be forever remembered as the goalscoring captain who finally brought the Scottish Cup back to Easter Road after over a century of failures.

An experienced sporting director, Malky Mackay, who knew the Scottish game inside out, was brought in along with new shareholders, the Black Knight group, who have worldwide experience in football recruitment.

So why has it gone so wrong? I wish I knew the answer but as hard as Gray has tried he simply cannot get a tune out of this squad.

The players themselves have said they are to blame. Captain Joe Newell spoke to the media before the weekend defeat by St Mirren and told us Gray deserves so much more than they have been giving him.

Saturday's match was simply a repeat of what has been happening this season.

Hibs had 70% possession but St Mirren had 15 attempts on goal. That was three more than Hibs mustered in front of their own fans.

Gray has now received the dreaded vote of confidence from the board but they have also outlined improvements have to come quickly.

The club will have a major overhaul next summer when many of the biggest earners are out of contract and decisions will have to be made soon as to who they want to keep.

On current form there are not too many players the fans would be crying over should they move on.

The Christmas period of games is the busiest time in the calendar and with trips to Dundee, Celtic, Motherwell, Aberdeen and Tynecastle all to come before the end of 2024, the road ahead is looking increasingly bumpy for Hibs.

Hibernian are poised to recall Rory Whittaker from Spartans in January as they fear a lack of game time for the League 2 side is hampering the 17-year-old right-back's development. (Edinburgh Evening News), external

Empoli midfielder Liam Henderson is hoping to remain in Italy beyond next summer, although no extension to his current contract has yet been dished out despite the former Hibs 28-year-old's 14 appearances for the Serie A side this season. (Edinburgh Evening News), external

Read Thursday's Scottish Gossip in full.

BBC Scotland's chief sportswriter Tom English has been answering your questions on Hibs.

Anon asked: Do we continue with David Gray and hope he turns the situation around or, as I suspect the board will do, throw him to the wolves? We can't afford to give this job to someone with no managerial experience. I know he's not everyone's cup of tea, but Neil Lennon is available.

Tom answered: Bottom of the league. Eight points after 12 games. It's disgraceful really. For a club as big and as terrific as Hibs, this is just unacceptable.

Compare what they were like under Lennon, when they were playing good football, scoring tremendous goals, giving the Old Firm a bloody nose from time to time. That was a different Hibs.

On the Lennon question, I don't know about that one, but the Lennon era can certainly be seen as the halcyon days compared to this rubbish.

Everybody's to blame at Hibs. The players, the manager, sporting director Malky Mackay, the board of directors, everyone. The recruitment has been terrible for a long number of years.

So it's not just on Gray, although he's carrying the can right now. It's on the decisions that have been made for years, decisions that were made in the summer. This team has cried out for competent, not really good, but just competent centre-halves for a long time.

Mackay has come in in the summer. He's in charge of recruitment among other things, so we're told. He is the guy bringing the players in. He signs Marvin Ekpiteta and Warren O'Hora, signs the goalkeeper Josef Bursik, and somehow makes them worse. They're just not good enough. Why have they been signed?

And then you could extend that around the team. They are in an awful, awful state, and Gray might pay for it with his job. Another one through the revolving Easter Road door.

And what might happen? Well, Mackay might come in as the manager. And we start again. You know, there's something really fundamentally wrong with that club. They are on a vicious cycle of making terrible decisions and until they start making good decisions, this is just going to repeat on a cycle, this Groundhog Day.

We asked for your views after Hibs publicly backed under-pressure head coach David Gray amid a poor start to the season.

Here's what some of you had to say:

Gordon: The worst state we've been in since the Gordon family took over, this was the final deplorable decision. To keep Gray on as manager when his periods of interim manager were, at best, average is completely beyond me. His team selections are poor, tactics even worse and all he seems to do is whistle from the dugout.

Kenneth: I don't understand the way Hibs are being run. Either the players are not good enough or it's the manager. We had a good manager in Jack Ross, constant top-six finish and two cup finals. We are going nowhere fast! My season ticket won't be getting renewed.

David: The board is backing the manager but without a strategic change, what's the point? The current squad talks a good game, but doesn't deliver. Players need to earn their place in the team, but poor performers keep appearing each week. Why? Where's the team cohesion? Where's the professionalism? Where's the drive to win?

John: Standing by the current manager is admirable but it will not accomplish anything as the team lack coordination, tactical awareness or motivation - that is the manager's responsibility. Change must happen or the Championship awaits.

Kris: I feel the club had to comment one way or another to avoid speculation over the international break. Appointing Gray was a mistake, the club needs a rebuild and an inexperienced manager was too big a gamble. I'm not sure what the answer is but on current form we will be relegated. The team shows no fight, how much of that is down management?

Dougie: Absolutely no point in sacking Gray. The best we can hope for is not to get relegated! Hibs has become the most un-investable club in the UK.

Matt: That usually means he's got three games left to sort this out, which is three games too many sadly. A great man who has been thrown under the bus by our board. If (when) he goes, the animosity from the fans towards the board will be as bad as we've ever seen.

Matty Fairnie
Fan writer

Hibs have come out and given David Gray a vote of confidence following an abject home defeat by St Mirren – a game that had all the hallmarks of a final nail in a struggling manager's coffin.

Hibs were such a shambles in the first half that Gray rolled the dice and looked to players that have, for much of the season, appeared to be on their way out. Rocky Bushiri, Harry McKirdy and Dylan Levitt featured along with Nicky Cadden, who is returning from injury.

It didn't look like a coherent plan, more a case of Gray's patience finally running out with the players who have constantly let him down this season.

In the week running up to the game, we heard from Martin Boyle and Joe Newell about how they had let the gaffer down. Rather than doing something about it, they let him down him again – though Newell and Boyle weren't alone in that regard.

This is a team in dire need of a lift from somewhere. Hibs' statement mentioned all departments being under pressure to deliver and working hard with Black Knight Football to do so.

They better do it fast otherwise this season is going to be catastrophic.

Matty Fairnie can be found at the Longbangers podcast, external

Bournemouth head of recruitment Garvan Stewart is expected to spearhead a rebuild of Hibernian's first team. (Mail), external

Read Tuesday's Scottish gossip

Hibs fans, what do you make of the club's statement to say they are standing by head coach David Gray?

Have your say on the current state of affairs at Easter Road., external

Since David Gray was appointed as Hibs head coach on a permanent basis in the summer, three of his four wins and 14 of the 26 goals scored came during the Scottish League Cup group stages.

These statistics do not include Gray's spells as Hibernian caretaker manager.

What would you like to ask Tom English about Hibs?

Our chief sportswriter is in the hotseat ready to answer your questions and offer his insight and opinion on your club.

Answers will be provided on Tuesday’s episode of the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast and on this page later in the week.

Put your questions to Tom here., external

Nicky Cadden is bothered by the notion that he is not deeply affected by Hibernian's recent woes. (Record), external

Cadden says the Hibs players "care probably as much as everyone else". (Edinburgh Evening News - subscription), external

Read Monday's Scottish gossip

Watch highlights of Hibernian's 2-1 defeat against St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership.

(Available to UK audiences only)