Hibernian head coach David Gray has insisted he still has full faith in goalkeeper Josef Bursik ahead of Sunday's Scottish Premiership Edinburgh derby - despite the on-loan Club Brugge man playing an unfortunate role in Dundee United's winning goal at Tannadice last weekend.

The former England Under-21 internationalist came rushing from his goal-line deep into injury time and in his attempt to punch the ball, instead made contact with defender Jack Iredale, who was clearing the danger. With Iredale grounded and Bursik stranded, United forward Meshack Ubochioma lobbed the ball into the unguarded net, sparking wild scenes from the home fans including a minor pitch invasion. 

Read more:

But despite the 24-year-old's mistake, he still has the backing of his manager, who issued a strong defence of the shot-stopper when asked if he could look to backup 'keeper Jordan Smith or third-choice custodian Max Boruc for the visit of city rivals Hearts on Sunday. 

"I still believe in the goalkeeper, 100 per cent. We've got a good goalie coach at the club as well working hard with him all the time," Gray said. 

"Josef has at times made wrong decisions but he's also made some very good decisions as well so I've not lost any faith in him at all, he's training very hard. One thing I do know is that when a goalkeeper makes a mistake or an error in a judgement, they're punished more often than not and it's about reducing that as much as you can.

"But that goes right through the whole team. We need to make sure we're all on the same page, staying together, and making sure we're all pulling in the same direction."

Meanwhile, Gray remains confident that Hibs are heading in the right direction under his stewardship, despite one win in eight Scottish Premiership matches.

"I'm very confident, and I think that's because of the hard work we're doing," he explained. 

"I felt it on Monday when we came back in here; people were hurting because they know we can be doing better in terms of results. We're being judged on results. That's what you get paid to do. 

"Being a football player, you don't just get paid to play football, I don't just get paid to coach the team, I get paid to win games of football. That is the ultimate challenge that faces us as players and as staff. We all know that and we all need to be doing better to make sure that we can do that."