Head coach David Gray spoke to the media ahead of Hibs' Premier Sports Cup clash with Peterhead at Easter Road on Saturday. Here's everything he had to say.

What's the mood like in the camp heading into the weekend?

"They've got a bit between their teeth a bit at the moment. Obviously after last weekend they need for a positive reaction which we got on Monday coming into training. A lot of positives from the game against Watford. We treated that like a training game and there was a lot that came out of that - things to work on, obviously but at the same time a lot of positives as well and the squad got more minutes into their legs and everyone came in this morning ready to go."

How have you dealt with everything this week? From the Kelty defeat to the Bill Foley comments...

“I think the important thing is to trust what you're doing every day. There will be times when you win games and lose games and it's about believing in what you're doing every single day. Players certainly felt that way on Monday, coming back in. We'll never accept losing the game we lost at the weekend. But at the same time as I said there was a lot of positives within the game. So it's focusing on that, it's focusing on worrying about things we can affect. We can't affect outside noise. We can't affect what people are talking about. But I have reminded the players that you're always being judged and every time you play for such a big club you're always being judged and it's up to you to be the best version of yourself and myself and my staff included in that. And it's important that we get to that level of consistency quickly and we're all geared up now ready to go to make sure we get a positive result tomorrow."

Can a defeat like that get rid of any potential for complacency moving forward?

“One hundred percent. You can't expect to win every game and it's how you then go and react to that. I thought we're fortunate that it's the group stages. So if that had just been a straight-out cup competition we'd be out of the cup. So we have got a second chance if you want to call it that with it in our hands going into the game at the weekend against Peterhead. But as you've already touched on there, it's definitely not going to be plain sailing all the time, you need to be at the level all the time And it's a sharp reminder to everybody involved that if we're not at the level and we drop our standards slightly that these things can happen and we need to guard against it.”

How are things on the injury front?

“Yeah we're getting there again, as I said the Watford game was a, we treated it as a training game. so I know we're 45 minutes into it, we sent the majority of the boys for their legs. Chris Cadden is still not going to be available for this one but Lewis Miller and Josef Bursik were left out of that game just for precautions just because they had impact injuries and we didn't want to take a risk on them and get another bang on that. But they're absolutely fine and they'll come back into the squad tomorrow. so it'll be the same again.

Josh Campbell seemed to hobble off against Watford, how is he?

“He just likes to limp every now and again! But he is fine."

Kelty was a first setback for you, on a scale of 1-10, how angry/disappointed were you afterwards?

“It's a very good question actually because I've obviously never really experienced it. In that situation, I think one thing that's always been mentioned to me is that when you watch it back it's never as bad as it feels at the time, and then when you watch things back that are positive, it's probably never as good as it actually felt at the time as well. So it is about being consistent in how you approach it and how you reflect on it, as I've already said for us to go there and lose the game, I'll never ever accept that.

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“We can't accept it, especially the goal we conceded, that was something I was very strong on. And we talk about accountability a lot and I think as a group we need to take accountability for that. But as I've already mentioned as well, it doesn't massively change what we're working on every single day, all the good things that are still seen in the game, the things we had worked on, the things they'd asked the players to do, they did do, it was just that final third, a little bit of quality, the back end of it almost felt like one of those days that regardless of how many attempts we had and chances we had we just could have been there all day and never scored. So I think then the flip side to that against Queen's Park, we created eight or nine chances and converted five of them. So I think we need to get back to, we know that we need to improve and that's what the message has been this week."

The reaction after the game, does that remind the new players of the demands of being at Hibs? 

“100%, I think that's part of being at a big football club, it's certainly been the message I've been guarding against. these games are always proven to be that way, even going up to Elgin, that was the message that if you're not 100% at it there's a chance of an upset. We are a big fish in this group at the moment and everyone's out to try and beat us and rightly so.  I think that's when the top teams are able to churn out their results all the time and that's the level and the standards that are set all the time."

Was Saturday a sleepless night? As you say, it's all new to you...

“I think it's new to me but at the same time I still feel, even when I was as a player and in the coaching capacity you always go back and reflect all the time as a player. I was constantly reflecting on how I played as a coach. you're still doing the same things, whatever your job was responsibilities, because I firmly believe you win together, you lose together so everyone's involved in it together. So I'm not really one for sleeping after games. regardless, even after positive ones. But one thing I've tried to really do is worry about things I can affect, which was always going to be the next day in training. How can I then get the message over to players. And then I did spend a bit of time with my family as well because my six year old came up to me straight away and she's not interested in the results, she just wants me to be dad. So that quickly brings me back down to earth pretty quickly and understanding what I'm actually doing and why I'm doing it because that's what you can never forget, your reasons why you do the things you do. I'm a very fortunate person, I've got a very happy family that I need to provide for all the time and I need to be dad as much as I need to be the best football manager I can be as well, so it's balancing that But everything is about moving forward and how I reflect on how I can try and improve the group and make sure the players know exactly what was expected, coming back in Monday morning."

Are there certain things you look for from players after a result like that, the kind of things you absolutely want to see off the back of it?

“I think players do it naturally anyway, I think you could see the disappointment. I got asked the question.  What did I do, did you go mad, did you do these things? Sometimes it's about reading the room. The level of disappointment was there for everyone to see. it wasn't through a lack of effort, it wasn't through us playing particularly poorly. it was not taking chances at one end and not killing the game off when we were so heavily on top. and if you don't do the things right if you don't kill the game off you always run the risk of someone sucker punching it till the end and that's what happened on the day and we need to learn from that. As, I've already said we need to be better in both boxes than we were on the day. then You speak about things you can control."

You spoke about the Bill Foley situation during the week. Have you had more time to think about it and speak to people at the club? What's your reflections on that?

“I think my message is still the same, I think I've got such a big job to concentrate on getting it right on the pitch. I've been at this club for 10 years now and the transformation for the club I joined, it had just been relegated to the Championship, the rebuilding that was required then to where I currently sit now and where I find the club, the transformation is off the charts. I think and that is purely down to the vision of Ron Gordon initially coming in, investing in the club with his generosity and then Ian taking that forward with Kit and the continued generosity and trying to. If you look at the stadium, all the work that's being done there, that's all the Gordon family's vision and then Ben Kensell actually being able to go and drive that and deliver that for the club. So as I say the things that are going on behind the scenes and it's my job now to make sure the things that have all been done structurally me bringing the footballing side up level to where it should be because of everything that's in place. I've said it many times, I do firmly believe the structure that's in place now gives the head coach a real chance to be successful and it's over to me now along with the staff to make sure we get the product on the pitch right to take this club to where it needs to be."

Is it reassuring in a way that the Gordon family still call the shots?

“That's why they're the owners of the football club. They've always got the final say and rightly so. I wouldn't like to comment but at the same time I know where I stand within the hierarchy pyramid and my job is to firmly focus on what's going on on the pitch. And that's my job every single day to get the best out of every single player and staff member in this building. so that's my full focus."