Hibs verdict: Dave ja vu as Gray echoes Jack Ross and Shaun Maloney after Livi loss

For all the talk of finishing as strongly as they possibly can, and targeting seventh, it all feels very flat. With the Easter Road side mathematically safe from the dreaded relegation play-off place the next three games are about as dead-rubbery as they come – for Hibs at least.

Speaking after Saturday’s defeat he was crestfallen. Hibs had amassed 18 shots on goal but debutant ‘keeper Ivan Konovalov barely got his gloves dirty, with not one shot finding the target. Harry Clarke, Josh Doig, Paul Hanlon, Elias Melkersen, Joe Newell, James Scott all had half-chances.

Such toothlessness in the final third is not Gray’s fault, of course. It’s part of what he inherited when he stepped into the breach for a second time this season.

He didn’t speak of fine margins, a la Ross, or tread Maloney’s line about wanting more aggression in the final third.

Players shot when they should have passed, or sought out a team-mate when they might have had a go themselves. Some of them dithered around the edge of the area when they had nothing to lose by pulling the trigger.

We didn’t learn anything new about this Hibs team. Problems in the final third and not enough variety in midfield, hampered by the continued absence of key players.

In any other season, this might be time to mix things up by giving youngsters a run-out. But with the under-18s facing a hectic schedule as they scramble to finish their own league matches and stringent rules on how many minutes youth players can complete in a certain space of time, that is highly unlikely to happen.

Regardless of what happens at Hibs in the final few games, Gray is also trying to beef up his own managerial credentials. Three wins from the remaining three games would look much better on