PARTI ON HIBEES

YOUR VOICE OF THE HIBEES EVERY WEEK IN RECORD SPORT

- TAM MCMANUS

KIERON BOWIE will be flying for Belgrade having swept off the season's mark ahead of facing Partizan.

And with the attacking weapons David Gray now has at his disposal, I genuinely believe he can again deliver a setup to return from the Balkans in control of this next qualifying tie ahead of a return at Easter Road.

Hibs may have gone out but despite that, I felt the manager proved against Midtjylland he has the tactical acumen to succeed in Europe.

In both legs, he was spot-on. If you look at the goals the Danes scored over two matches, all three were worldies. Hibs were also unlucky with a goal chopped off early in the second leg because, had they gone in front, it's a different tie.

Overall, probably just the better team went through, but I was still impressed with the way Gray set the side up, impressed with his substitutions. I don't feel he did anything wrong and was just a little bit unlucky.

You can see he has really driven the squad. Hibs are strong and adopting the same type of system as Denmark should help them stay in the tie, at least.

My gut feeling is Partizan are not going to be as good as Midtjylland. It's a gut feeling because - I'm not going to lie - I'm no expert on the ins-and-outs of the Serbian league.