Hibs have one more game left to play before the summer break - and interim head coach David Gray believes everybody at the club should do the same thing during their downtime: reflect on the season just past.

It has largely been a campaign to forget for the Easter Road side with high points few and far between, and the former club captain is now into his fourth caretaker-manager stint, and second since August. 

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“I think it’s important that everyone uses that break to reflect. Everybody, individually," he said, speaking at Hibs' pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon.

"Some people will maybe feel they’ve underperformed, or underachieved, or whatever – just look at yourself and ask how you can get better every single day. Players, staff, and everyone involved getting a chance to go away and think, then come back in a better place, is really important. Because we have underachieved this season.

“If we can finish the season strongly with three points we can still finish seventh, which is important. That’s our focus."

While the likes of Paul Hanlon and Lewis Stevenson will depart the club at the end of the season when their contracts expire, others may well be playing for their futures - and Gray insists that players have to give everything whether they are playing in a pre-season friendly, a cup final, or a dead-rubber, final game of the campaign, and suggested figures like Hanlon and Stevenson should be the benchmark.

"As a footballer, you are being judged constantly. Everyone forms an opinion, every single day, every time you come into the building or go out on the training pitch," he explained. 

“It’s about being the best version of yourself. The minute you start coasting or thinking you’re doing well, you end up going back the way. So you have to give everything in a pre-season friendly, the last game of the season or a cup final. 

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“I definitely understand what Paul brings to a dressing room, because I go back such a long way with him. You don’t play at his level for so long without being a top player and a top professional. Him and Lewis are always accountable, always put their hand up. You can’t have too many of those in a dressing room."

Gray didn't dodge the inevitable questions about the vacancy at Easter Road, and while ducking the limelight, offered the biggest hint yet that he feels ready to make the step up to permanent head coach.

“First and foremost I’m doing what the club have asked me to do. Everything else around that, I’ll wait until my position changes. We do need stability. But the only way to get that is by getting results on the pitch. We’re all trying to move the club forward. It’s a challenge. But it’s also one someone should be really excited about," he continued.

"I think I will always back myself, given the opportunity. I’ve been in this position four times and it’s been uncomfortable for a number of reasons, because first and foremost, people have been losing their jobs. But in terms of backing my ability to do the job, 100 per cent, I believe I can do it."