David Gray proud of Hibernian character after fight-back to draw with Rangers

David Gray believes Hibs showed character once again to come from behind and earn point against Rangers.

Hibs were 2-0 down at Easter Road to a Hamza Igamane double but Martin Boyle struck twice to claw the hosts back to level terms in the second half.

Igamane completed his hat-trick to put Rangers 3-2 up and apparently on the road to maximum points but Rocky Bushiri scored with a late header to rescue a draw for Hibs.

“A great game for the neutral, not so much for a coach,” Hibs head coach Gray said at full-time. “But massive credit to the players for the second-half performance, and for hanging in there in the first half because Rangers started miles better.

“We had to rely on the goalkeeper a couple of times and we were hanging in there; we tweaked the shape a wee bit, which definitely helped. I thought from our second-half performance, we got at least what we deserved from the game.”

Hibs have had a difficult season overall but a recent turn in form saw Gray named as manager of the month for December and the team now has four wins and two draws from their last six matches.

The manager thinks the effort exerted for Sunday’s point is proof of the team’s character.

“We’ve demonstrated that a few times now in recent weeks, which is something that has been questioned a lot this season,” Gray said. “I’ve had to answer a lot of questions about the character of the group, the mentality of the group, but they’ve answered that numerous times in recent weeks, which is great.

“As I say, we had to ride our luck a little bit first half but to come back the way we did, especially against a team like that, Rangers are a really good side. To give them a two goal start, it’s very, very difficult.

“But to then get back to 2-2, and then to hit the post and have chances at the back of it like when Gayley has his chance, it shows you how far the group has come. And then once you get pegged back again at 3-2, it would have been very, very easy to throw the towel in at that point.

“But I think again, you see, we finished the game strong and done everything we could to get back in the game.

“Credit to everyone involved. I’m delighted for the players.”