Nathan Moriah-Welsh says Hibs are ready for Premiership kick-off despite clamour for attacking reinforcements

Hibees boss David Gray has admitted his side need more attacking options before the window closes on August 31 but midfielder Moriah-Welsh insists the squad are ready for the new season

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Nathan Moriah-Welsh insists Hibs are ready for the Premiership to begin – despite the lack of signings.

The Leith outfit sealed their progress to the Premier Sports Cup last-16 as group winners with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Peterhead on Saturday. It was the reaction gaffer David Gray wanted following the embarrassing defeat to Kelty Hearts seven days earlier. Hibs face St Mirren in Sunday’s league opener and are looking to make a fast start following last season’s disappointing eighth-place finish.

New boss Gray has only been able to recruit two goalkeepers and two centre-backs so far and reiterated the need for attacking reinforcements at the weekend. But Moriah-Welsh can’t wait for the real action to begin and claims Hibs are in a good place. He said: “Are we ready? Of course, yeah. We’ve been ready for a couple of weeks now. It’s been good, the buzz is good and the confidence coming from the gaffer and staff after last season, for me especially, has been massive.

“It’s been really positive. The gaffer gives us that belief that we are good players and a good side.

“We’ve got to show that, be aggressive in both boxes and believe in ourselves as much as the gaffer believes in us.

“With respect to the opposition, it’s going to be a big jump. We’ve had competitive games for the last three weeks now and it’s straight into competitive games again.

“We’ve all enjoyed it and now it’s the nitty gritty of the league. We’ve got to go everywhere with a winning mentality. If you’re not a winner then what are you in life?

“We can’t go anywhere thinking it could be a draw or a loss. Every game has to be a winning mentality.

“I just hate losing! I think that’s clear to see in the way I play, with how I am at certain times. A lot of the lads are the same and losing’s not acceptable.”

Saturday’s match was a must win for Hibs to progress as group winners but they also needed to rack up the goals after fending off Queen’s Park at the top of Group C by just one goal. Lewis Miller got them up and running early on when his cross found the corner of the net.

But it wasn’t until the second half that Hibs were able to build on that lead. Miller grabbed his second before Rudi Molotnikov and Moriah-Welsh also found the target. And he admits the players were kept informed about the need to keep scoring with Spiders hitting Kelty for six.

He added: “We were aware and I think that spurred us on. From the first minute of the second half we thought, we need to get into action here and I thought we did that well with the intent we showed and we got the three goals, it could have been more.

“Messages were being passed on at times. I can’t remember at half-time what it was but we knew we needed to do more.

“We did a lot in the first half but we knew we could do so much better. It was a positive result, we know we could be better though. Four goals, clean sheet – a job done really.”

Moriah-Welsh made the move from Bournemouth in January but couldn’t help Hibs avoid finishing in the bottom six. But he’s determined to make amends this time around.

He added: “As a whole last year was a good year but league position-wise it wasn’t good. I don’t want to look at my performances, helping the team to get higher up is my focus. If we do well, ultimately individuals will do well.”

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