David Gray doesn't much like talking about last season.

The past is the past for the Hibs head coach, but it's clear he quickly identified several things that needed to change on his watch. Perhaps the most frequent accusation levelled at the 23/24 Hibs side - and there were many - was that they were too soft, too easy to play against, too easy to beat. In other words, thoroughly un-David Gray.

Sunday's draw at Kilmarnock will not live long in the memory, but it was a first glimpse at Gray's post-transfer window Hibs. You sense it's not quite his first-choice XI justyet, but what was evident from an attritional 1-1 draw at Rugby Park is the changing physical profile of this Hibs team. It wasn't among the aims he stated over and over throughout the transfer window, but a quick look at the stature of the team he fielded at the weekend suggests Gray wants Hibs to be more imposing, more physically equipped for the rigours of the Scottish Premiership.

The average height of Sunday's team was around 6ft 1, with the average height of the squad as a whole now sitting at around 6ft. Nectar Triantis and Kwon Hyeok-kyu are both around 6ft 3, adding a considerable presence in the middle of the pitch while summer signings Josef Bursik, Marvin Ekpiteta, Warren O'Hora, Mykola Kukharevych and Kieron Bowie are all 6ft-plus. Compared to the squad that finished last season having an approximate average height of 5ft 10, there's evidence of a deliberate shift. Against arguably the most physical side in the league at the weekend, Hibs stood up well, and at no point did it feel as though they were being bullied by their hosts, as plenty of visiting teams have been. Goals conceded in the previous visit to Ayrshire back in January were the definition of not winning physical duels, forcing a late scramble to salvage a draw. Losing the battle, however, was not Hibs' undoing at the weekend; rather it was the familiar late lapse in concentration which proved so costly again. 

Of course, simply signing big lads does not a good team make. However, it's obvious that Gray has listened to the 'too soft' allegations and attempted to do something about it. We love to talk ad nauseum about how our league is different to the rest, but in some ways, it is.  Hibs look better equipped for those unavoidable slugfests that you will, like it or not, encounter every so often in the Scottish top flight.

A repeated theme of Gray's press conferences has been the need for his team to be adaptable, and much of the discussion stemming from that centred on formations. The head coach has flipped between a couple, but being able to play in various ways within those systems is more important than any one shape, and to do that you need the right players to carry it out. If the weekend is a sign of things to come, it seems Gray won't hesitate to play long and mix it up at venues like Rugby Park, and the club's recruitment now seems to reflect this. There are still players there who are capable of getting the ball down and implementing a style more amenable to expectant supporters, but the squad variety should allow Hibs to add a bit more variety for certain fixtures.

The broader challenge for Gray is to blend his team's growing physical stature with increased quality. The odd moment aside, we haven't seen a great deal of it in front of goal since the Premiership campaign commenced, and the recent statistics posted on social media showing Hibs propping up the Scottish Premiership shots-on-target table were alarming, if not surprising, showing the Capital club with 1.75 shots on target per game. For comparison, Dundee (5.5), St Johnstone (5.25), and Aberdeen  (5.0) completed the top five behind Celtic (7.25) and Rangers (6.25).  

The hope will be that Bowie reaching full fitness, plus Elie Youan and Junior Hoilett returning from injury will help significantly. That trio will not only increase quality levels but will add three very different profiles to the mix. And with the club still monitoring the free-agent market, there's a very real possibility for a further profile in the final third to come into play. 

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The reshuffled midfield was a positive from an otherwise drab draw down in Ayrshire, with the Triantis-Newell-Kwon axis looking tentatively like an upgrade. Triantis, in particular, was excellent. The Australian's loan return from Sunderland wasn't universally acclaimed on deadline day but his potential as a defensive midfielder is clear. Tall, athletic, and possessing both ball-carrying abilities and a good range of passing, his is a fairly rare combination of attributes, and the decision to bring him back could well end up looking like a no-brainer. There's optimism he could really blossom at Easter Road this season.

And so while none of this is immediately indicative of better fortunes post-international break, we can, at least, now see some flickers of what Gray wants his team to look like. On paper, there should be enough there to marry robustness with better quality, but only time will tell if that's to be the case.