MIXU Paatelainen insisted yesterday he would not be rushed into a hasty decision on the future of Damon Gray. The young striker's loan period from Hibernian to Partick Thistle runs out at the end of the month, and both the player and the Glasgow club want to extend it.
With half a dozen strikers to choose from in their current first-team squad, Hibs appear eminently able to allow Gray to stay with Thistle, for whom he scored against Rangers in the Scottish Cup quarter-final tie on Wednesday night. But Paatelainen,
while saying he would take Gray's views into account, said he had to think carefully about the well-being of his squad as a whole before agreeing to an extension of the loan.
"I want to make sure we have plenty of firepower for the remaining fixtures," the Hibs manager said. "After the end of March he can only play for the one club.
"He wasn't put to Partick to offload him at all. He's there to gain experience and become a better player."
With Steven Fletcher and Colin Nish forming his first-choice partnership up front, Paatelainen can also call on Abdessalam Benjelloun, Clayton Donaldson and Ross Campbell as front men. In addition, Dean Shiels is also capable of playing in an advanced position, while the likes of Filipe Morais and Alan O'Brien, although wide players, could also fill in if a vacancy arose.
In other words, Paatelainen was surely erring on the side of caution yesterday when he said he would not take a hasty decision and run the risk of repenting it at leisure. Failing a host of injuries this weekend, it appears certain that Gray will be allowed to stay where he is and continue his development. Having scored in the 1-1 draw with Rangers, he is understandably eager to be involved in the replay as well.
Ian McCall, the Partick manager, said he had been encouraged by his discussions with Rod Petrie, and hoped that Paatelainen would take the same line as the Hibs chief executive. "I spoke with Rod Petrie today and he was going to speak to Mixu Paatelainen," McCall said. "Rod's been very accommodating and fingers crossed something will happen.
"We hope Mixu will agree that Damon's getting great experience here. He's only 19, and he certainly has a chance in the game. He's a very good natural finisher, and as good a striker as I've worked with."
Gray himself told the Edinburgh club's website, www.hibs.co.uk, that he wanted to stay at Firhill until the end of the season. "It's up to Hibernian of course, but I would like to remain at Partick for the remainder of the season if possible," he said.
"In the summer my aim would be to return to Easter Road and hopefully challenge for a place in the first team. I knew at the start of this season that it would be difficult for me to break into the side. Going on loan was a good option for me."
Meanwhile, Paatelainen said there was no lingering animosity between him and Rangers manager Walter Smith, with whom he had an angry exchange when Hibs played at Ibrox in a Scottish Cup replay a couple of weeks ago.
The Finn takes his team back to the ground tomorrow for a league match and said he expected a harmonious meeting with the former Scotland boss.
"I will probably speak to Walter after the game, but if I bump into him before the game then I am sure we will wish each other good luck. There is no bad blood at all. After the last game we had a laugh about it but there is no problem at all.
"I think too much was made of it. There was too big a fuss about it, because it was nothing."
Paatelainen has also told his players they will have to be more creative in the final third if they are to avoid a second defeat against Rangers this month.
This time he is able to call on Nish after the towering former Kilmarnock striker was cup-tied for the last match at Ibrox, and Paatelainen is hoping for a better performance.
He said: "I am looking forward to going back. I am disappointed with the way we played offensively last time.
"We need to pass the ball better in the final third, make better runs and create chances.
"We never really created a chance last time we played there. To win the game we need to create chances and pass the ball better. Colin and Steven Fletcher have done well of late and it's a boost they are available to us in this game."
The full article contains 798 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
