Hibernian

Barney Stewart's hat-trick inspired impressive Falkirk to an emphatic victory over Hibernian as their incredible return to the Scottish Premiership continued.

Read the full match report here.

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Hibs head coach David Gray: "I didn't see the reaction we were looking for. We got exactly what we deserved. Second best all over the pitch.

"I thought Falkirk played the conditions better; they outworked us and, for this football club, that's not good enough.

"I'm not going to sugarcoat it, and I don't want to dilute what Falkirk did today because they did the majority of things well; they approached the game better than we did.

"That performance is a reflection of my team, and it's up to me to take full responsibility and try to change that. I'm not making excuses for players not being here, but when you pull on that jersey, you've got a responsibility and an expectation to play for this football club.

"We had too many players who were well below the standards."

Hibernian and Motherwell are poised to miss out on Sheffield Wednesday's Barry Bannan as the 36-year-old Scotland capped midfielder holds advanced talks with Millwall. (Daily Record), external

Read Saturday's Scottish Gossip in full.

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Falkirk are missing Filip Lissah after the defender picked up an injury against Hearts last weekend while Gary Oliver (hamstring) is still out. Ross MacIver, Tom Lang and Lewis Neilson are all pushing for involvement after recovering from injury.

Hibernian midfielder Josh Mulligan will be out for a few weeks after picking up an ankle knock in last weekend's Scottish Gas Scottish Cup defeat at Dunfermline. David Gray has a few concerns while Josh Campbell has been out this year with a hamstring problem.

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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David Gray has been speaking to the media as his side prepare for Saturday's trip to Falkirk.

Here are the main points:

• Key player Josh Mulligan will be out for "a few weeks" with an ankle injury and Gray says "it's a blow" and "a real disappointment" for the midfielder.

• Gray admits they've had to "wrap a few players up this week" but wouldn't go into detail as to who may not be fit for the visit to Falkirk.

• With Hibs the only Premiership club yet to make a signing this month, Gray says "we're working hard to do things" and he "expects there to be movement and things to happen" before the deadline but would not be drawn on individuals.

• Gray insists it's not "panic stations" and there's "no doom and gloom" around the club despite their Scottish Cup exit to Dunfermline.

• However, the boss does admit they "let everyone down" last weekend and stresses "it's my job to put it right".

• But Gray knows there is now "zero distractions" after the cup exit, adding: "The season is not now finished with nothing to play for. The only thing we can do now is try and finish as high up the league as we can."

• He says his six-year-old daughter Ada is the person who helps him most in terms of recovering from a bad result and calls it a "humbling" experience.

• The Hibs boss stresses "no one has the right to beat anybody" and says their 3-0 win over Falkirk at Easter Road last month "is no reflection on how this game's going to go".

• Gray says it's no surprise John McGlynn has been linked with bigger jobs than Falkirk and, along with Martin O'Neill, is proving management is not just "a young man's game".

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Is Hibernian's season being made to look worse because fierce rivals Hearts are flying high at the top of the league?

Easter Road boss David Gray has come in for criticism after his side crashed out at the first Scottish Cup hurdle, losing 1-0 at second-tier Dunfermline in the fourth round last weekend.

In the Premiership Hibs sit fifth and are unbeaten in five league outings before Saturday's trip to Falkirk, but Hearts are 15 points better off than Gray's side.

"It's never nice seeing your rivals do so well," pundit and former striker Rory Loy told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"I don't think Hibs have had a bad season, I just think there was potentially an expectation there they could be slightly closer given the players they've got. They're only nine points behind the Old Firm, so it's not as if they're miles adrift.

"I do think they've fallen victim of Hearts' success slightly, but losing that game on Saturday wasn't clever in terms of the optics of the season.

"Going into the back end of the season, you always want a quarter or semi-final to look forward to, to keep things going if the league is in a place where it's not all that exciting."

Hibs women's head coach Joelle Murray believes Hibs need a strong end to the league campaign to ease fan anger over the cup exit.

"It's no surprise there is frustration and anger because at a club like Hibs there's that expectation to progress through the cup competitions, certainly at these early stages," said Murray.

"The frustrations are deserved, but when you flip back to the league, we're looking to extend the run to six, we've been on a fantastic run.

"However, going to Falkirk, it's not an easy place as a lot of teams have experienced this season."

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• Falkirk have had more shots following high turnovers (32) than any other side in the Scottish Premiership this season, while Hibs top the division for goals following high turnovers (seven).

• After their 3-1 win at Kilmarnock, Hibs are looking for back-to-back away league victories for the first time since December 2024.

• After only losing one of their first eight home league matches this season (W2 D5), Falkirk have since lost two of their past three (W1).

• Hibs have only lost one of their past 12 league matches against newly-promoted sides (W7 D4), going down 3-2 away to Dundee United in October 2024.

• Falkirk remain winless in 12 top-flight matches against Hibs (D5 L7) since a 2-1 victory in December 2006.

Hibernian are bracing themselves for big-money bids for Kieron Bowie, with clubs in Italy, Germany and Belgium keen on the 23-year-old Scotland striker. (Record), external

Thursday's Scottish gossip

Colin Moffat
BBC Sport Scotland

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Sitting fifth in the league with little prospect of catching the top three and out of the Scottish Cup after a dismal display in Dunfermline, this season is threatening to fizzle out for Hibernian.

Roll back to the start of term and hopes were high as David Gray's side followed up a third-place finish with three thrilling European tussles, going toe-to-toe with Midtjylland, Partizan Belgrade and Legia Warsaw.

Those continental adventures earned the players plaudits but there has been no real lift-off since, with performances far too patchy.

With nine wins and eight draws from 22 Premiership outings, there have been a few highs, notably a 3-2 derby win over Hearts at Easter Road, and some off days, including three timid showings against Rangers, but it's been largely prosaic, all a bit meh.

Summer recruits Jamie McGrath and Josh Mulligan have brought energy to the midfield, Dan Barlaser offers composure and Miguel Chaiwa has shown glimpses of bustling promise.

Grant Hanley adds experience at the back and Raphael Sallinger has been an upgrade in goals and yet it just hasn't clicked often enough.

Occupying fifth with the fifth biggest budget is hardly a surprise but there is a mood of frustration among fans, who have seen city rivals Hearts profit from the volatile periods that have afflicted Celtic and Rangers.

And, while Hibs are the third highest scorers in the Premiership, there is a sense Gray should be getting more from the squad at his disposal.

Gray is the only top-flight manager yet to add to his options this month, although there have been repeated links to Bochum right-back Felix Passlack.

Hibs had a very quiet January last season, with the lesser-spotted Alasana Manneh the only arrival, and it did no harm at all as they embarked on a club-record run of 17 games unbeaten in the league to storm up the table.

While the manager is under no pressure, it's going to take something similarly special to turn what looks like being a modest campaign into a memorable one.

Matty Fairnie
Fan writer

Hibs were – with some justification – booed off the pitch after an abject Scottish Cup exit against second-tier Dunfermline.

David Gray must shoulder the blame for the Fife fiasco. His team selection meant that in each area of the pitch – defence, midfield and attack – he had a relatively unfamiliar line-up.

Jordan Obita, Rocky Bushiri and Warren O'Hora have all played in the same team, but the game-time they've had together as a back three is minimal.

Joe Newell made his first start in more than a year, joining Josh Mulligan and Junior Hoilett to make up the midfield three – again, the amount of time they have played together competitively is very low.

The front two of Kieron Bowie and Thibault Klidje wasn't quite in the untried category, but certainly fell into the untrusted one given Gray's reluctance to pair the strikers with any degree of regularity.

What followed was an incoherent and lacklustre display from Hibs. And while Gray can reasonably point to glaring misses from Bowie and Klidje, plus a penalty shout that would almost certainly have been given had VAR been in place, the reality is we got exactly what we deserved from the game.

The Scottish Cup was Hibs' last chance of silverware this season. And with the club's owners going on record recently to say the targets are European qualification and winning trophies, a lot now rests on Gray securing a strong finish to the league campaign.

He'll hope for reinforcements to his squad before the window closes and the pressure should be on Hibs' recruitment team as much as the head coach when it comes to salvaging a season that's in real danger of turning into a damp squib.

You can find Matty Fairnie at Longbangers podcast, external

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Defender Zach Mitchell has been recalled from his loan at Hibernian by parent club Charlton Athletic.

The 21-year-old joined Hibs in September but went on to make just two appearances for the Edinburgh side.

Hibs head coach David Gray says the decision to return to Charlton "makes sense" for Mitchell, given his lack of minutes during his loan spell.

"I'd like to thank Zach for the way he has conducted himself around the club and for all his hard work," said Gray.

"We've had a lot of competition for places in his position and he had to be patient for his opportunities.

"Zach is a young player who wants to play games, which we completely understand, so it makes sense for him to return to Charlton Athletic as it's not something we can guarantee.

"He was a model professional during his time here, fantastic to work with, always keen to learn, and I wish him nothing but the best moving forward."

Asked about interest from Hibernian in 20-year-old striker Bailey Cadamarteri and Rangers for defender Max Lowe, Sheffield Wednesday manager Henrik Pedersen said he has only been told of one offer for one of his players. (Edinburgh Evening News), external

Read Monday's Scottish Gossip in full.

We asked for your views on Hibernian's 1-0 defeat against Dunfermline Athletic in the Scottish Cup.

Here's what some of you said:

Scott: Poor game, poor performance. For me David Gray has to go. Legend or not, this team is far too flaky, great one week and performances like this the next.

Colin: A collective failure, we didn't treat this like a cup tie. We had chances but didn't take them and didn't look in control of the game. The players knew what was at stake but didn't turn up.

Alan: Dunfermline were by far the hungriest team, worked harder, ran harder and tried harder. The same woeful stuff from a Gray team, no passion or desire and absolutely no running off the ball. Hibs must be the most predictable team to play against in Scotland. It would have been the dream for Gray to succeed at Hibs, but I think the writing is on the wall and his tenure won't go beyond this season.

Alexander: This result is a disgrace and it is down to our inept manager who has no idea how to change a system that is clearly not working. As for bringing back Joe Newell, beggars belief. I never wanted him from the outset and each week my opinion has hardened.

Kenny: Another poor performance. I can't help thinking that Gray has taken the team as far as he can. Performances are up and down and it's simply not good enough. He took off the only player to look like scoring today when Kieron Bowie should have been left through the middle with Martin Boyle wide. Sad to say this but we need a change.

Gerry: Hibs far too often produce performances like this. Simply not good enough. I'm sick of hearing we'll have to rectify this in the next game.

Watch highlights as Championship side Dunfermline Athletic overcome Premiership Hibernian in the Scottish Cup (UK only).

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Hibernian head coach David Gray: "Hibernian head coach David Gray: "I can't stand here and say we fully deserved the win. I can talk about chances we missed and decisions, but it doesn't really matter.

"The reality is we're out of the cup and that's not good enough for this football club.

"I mean that with the greatest respect to Dunfermline. Congratulations to them, I think they deserved to go through."

A freakish stoppage-time own goal by Hibernian's Miguel Chaiwa has put second tier Dunfermline Athletic into the last 16 of the Scottish Cup at the expense of their top-flight visitors.

Have your say on the game here.

Read our match report here.

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As David Gray reminisces about Hibs' 2016 Scottish Cup final triumph, one memory in particular vividly sticks in his mind. The open-top bus parade.

"The minute we turned the corner, just a sea green and white, the whole way down Leith Walk, looking back up towards the Balmoral, just green and white everywhere," he tells BBC Scotland.

"There's some unbelievable photographs on the day as well. When you're on that bus looking back and then go down to Leith Walk... I don't know what the actual number was, people say over 200,000 supporters in the streets."

Understandably, that triumph over Rangers - in which current head coach Gray was Hibs skipper and headed the stoppage-time winner - and subsequent celebrations is his career highlight. It is unlikely to be ever be topped.

"I believe everything happens for a reason," he said.

"I think back to my career, and highs and lows, and all the things you do, and sacrifices, I was very fortunate to have something that will live with me for the rest of my life.

"That day, that weekend, what it meant to everybody. Obviously I scored a goal, I was captain, a very privileged position, but to be part of that with everybody was a special, special day."

Hibs begin this season's Scottish Cup glory bid away to former boss Neil Lennon's Dunfermline on Saturday - live on BBC One Scotland - and Gray is stressing the need to be switched on.

"I expect a real good atmosphere, it's one of the good stadiums in Scotland against a Premier League standard football club," he said.

"They a very experienced manager, they've got some real good players as well, good way of playing, so we know we're up against it.

"We need to make sure we're at our very best. Added to that magic of the cup, the expectation going there, we need to avoid any complacency and that's been the message for the players."

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Neil Lennon regards his former Hibs captain David Gray as the "perfect fit" for the Easter Road dugout.

Gray's Hibs are fifth in the Premiership and visit Lennon's Dunfermline in the Scottish Cup on Saturday (12:30 GMT), with the match live on BBC One Scotland and iPlayer.

"He was very professional," said Lennon, who managed Hibs from 2016-2019.

"He took on the responsibility of being captain very well. The players gravitated to him. He was a very good player. He scored some really important goals for me in Europe and domestic games as well. He was so committed. Loved to tackle. He was pretty consistent.

"He was a really good captain for me. He was a really good buffer between me and the players. Whether I saw him being a head coach or not, you don't think about those things at the time. Looking at him now, it's a perfect fit.

"Sometimes he was probably a bit more mature than myself."

Gray came under pressure in the early part of last season before going on a remarkable run that culminated in a third-placed finish.

"I thought he was brilliant last year because he had such a difficult start," Lennon said.

"He weathered all that pressure and scrutiny. He came out the other side of it to have a brilliant second half of the season.

"At the start of the year, they were really good in Europe. Now they've hit a really good form again despite having a couple of players missing.

"I'm delighted for him because I know what Hibs means to him. He's a young coach. He's had a real baptism of fire. He's handled it brilliantly."

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Zak Rudden is a dyed-in-the-wool Hibee. He was in the Hampden stands on that famous day in 2016 when current boss David Gray skippered the club to a first Scottish Cup success in 114 years.

This Saturday, however, Rudden is plotting the downfall of his beloved team when Hibs visit Dunfermline in the fourth round - live on BBC Scotland.

"I've been a Hibs fan since I was maybe five years old," the Pars striker told BBC Scotland.

"I was there on the day [of the cup win]. It was crazy, surreal. I was there with my friends, went through on the bus and went to the parade the next day. Seeing all the Hibs players, it was a surreal day."

So how would if feel if Rudden was to score the winner to end Hibs' cup dreams this weekend?

"Unbelievable," the 25-year-old says. "You always try that wee bit harder against your team. I'm definitely looking forward to it and seeing what I can do."

Rudden is no stranger to giantkilling. He was in the Queen's Park side that knocked Rangers out at the last-16 stage last season in one of the great upsets in the tournament's history.

"A crazy day," he added.

"Obviously you're going there with no expectation of winning or doing too well. You're thinking we'll just see it out.

"As the game went on and on, I looked up at the clock just before we scored, about the 70th minute and said to Welshy [Sean Welsh] 'At least we've got our appearance fee' and then the next minute we score.

"Everybody rushing over to the corner, it was just an unbelievable feeling. At that point I just stopped and I was thinking, we're actually winning at Ibrox. A team that's a massive underdog.

"There were great celebrations after as well."

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Hibernian are expecting offers for striker Kieron Bowie in the coming weeks amid interest from Celtic and Rangers and have placed a £6.5m price tag on the 23-year-old's head. (Football Insider), external