David Gray’s men head into Edinburgh derby at Tynecastle on back of morale-lifting win
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There was no denying Ante Suto his headline-grabbing moment. A truly spectacular header to win a five-goal thriller in injury time is not the sort of thing anyone is going to overlook.
Ask any Hibs fan to pick out the most impressive performer from a night of high drama at Easter Road, however, and the name of Dane Scarlett will surely dominate the debate. Not least in any discussion with David Gray.
The Hibs boss positively purred with satisfaction as he reflected on Scarlett’s first start in green-and-white, the on-loan Tottenham Hotspur forward – described as a “goal-scoring striker” by his new gaffer – building on a substitute’s appearance against Rangers with an impressive all-round showing against Dundee United. The only thing missing from last night’s masterclass in centre forward play was a goal. Which will come, according to Gray.
England Under-21 player has featured in Champions League this season
A player who has Premier League and Champions League minutes under his belt already this season, Scarlett has inspired plenty of fine words in his short career, with Spurs boss Thomas Frank hailing a “fantastic finisher” who simply needs game time to reach his full potential. Hibs were more than happy to offer that chance to the 21-year-old, with the Edinburgh club’s pursuit of Scarlett definitely ramping up a gear as soon as Kieron Bowie’s £7 million sale to Hellas Verona became an inevitability.
Gray, who replaced his tiring line leader with Suto to great effect just after the hour mark in a dramatic contest, always believed in the ability of a player who has represented England all the way up to under-21 level. And the Hibs boss, a former Man United academy player back in the day himself, believes coming through the development system at a huge Premier League club like Spurs represents a sort of quality mark for top talent.
“Just in terms of the grounding and the quality he's going to have, he’s grown up around top professionals,” said Gray. “To get to that level, you need to be a very good professional.
“Lots of ability, lots of resources round about you. But you need to be of a certain level to get to that point.
“He's already played this season, featured in Champions League football. Playing with top players at the top end of the game, elite-level players, that can only be a good thing.
“Obviously, added to that, he's got that opportunity to go and add a bank of games, which is what he wants to do. Now he has to get out on loan, get more exposure to first-team football, more regular game time - and score goals.
“That is what he is. He's a goal-scoring striker. Against Dundee United, his all-round performance was really good. And I think he'll get better the more games he gets.”
Centre forward ‘focal point’ role addressed
Assessing the showing of a player who held the ball in as part of a dynamic front three, showing off his strength and passing skills with some excellent link play, Gray declared: “He was excellent. I thought he put in a real all-round performance, his work rate and his quality.
“How well he led the line was a big thing. He was a real focal point for us.
“A wee bit unfortunate a couple of times. A couple of blocked shots. But we’ve seen what he can do.
“We know that, with the research we've done, he's a very good finisher off both feet. Certainly, for the time he was on the pitch, he was a real handful for Dundee United.
“He's only going to get better. The more minutes he gets, the more exposure he gets, the more time he gets on the training pitch with us and how we want to play, the more familiar he gets with his teammates. I think he's only going to get better, which is great.
“He can be really happy with his night's work. He obviously got a bit tired, as you would expect, not having played a lot of football. But for him as an individual, coming up here and trying to hit the ground running, he's certainly done that, which is good.”
Front three a new look for Easter Road side?
The Hibs shape looked just slightly different against Dundee United, with Martin Boyle and Elie Yoan playing either side of central runner Scarlett. Yet Gray insists the minor tweak on his usual 3-4-1-2, which would normally see a player like Jamie McGrath play in the No. 10 role behind two more central strikers, does NOT represent a dramatic change of formation.
“I think people talk about the front three; it was really a nine and two tens,” he said, explaining: “Personnel probably made it seem like more of a front three because Youan and Boyle are not associated with being centre-forwards.
“When I put Jamie in that ten position, he’s more of a midfielder. It is very much relative to certain positions and a couple of yards here and there.
“In the first half, I thought we looked really dangerous at times. In the second half, we had really dangerous moments but then made the wrong choice or the wrong pass.
“As I say, there's a lot more to come for the group. Even players who didn't get on against Dundee United, young Rudi Molotnikov, young Owen Elding, they didn’t feature. We've certainly got options now going forward.
“We were a wee bit restricted just with injuries and things that happened in the game. There's certainly a lot of options moving forward, which can only be a good thing.”