Hibs boss David Gray has refused to blame Mykola Kukharevych for his penalty miss against Rangers – and admits he never had the bottle to take a spot kick during his own playing career.
With the visitors trailing 1-0 in the final stages of the first half, the Ukrainian forward was handed the chance to level things up when a penalty was awarded for a handball by John Souttar from Kukharevych’s attempted shot. However, the 23-year-old’s stuttered run-up failed to deceive Gers stopper Jack Butland, who guessed the right way by diving to right his side to save the spot kick.
Former Hibees Scottish Cup hero Gray concedes that the penalty miss was a pivotal moment in the game but says he will never knock back a player for accepting responsibility from 12 yards. Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “One thing I wouldn’t criticise anyone for is putting their hand up to take a penalty. I certainly wouldn’t have done it in my career, which was why I was a defender, probably.
“Does he regret that and if he could take it again would you want him to put his foot through it? Absolutely as it was a big moment in the game. But even then the reaction from the players to not scoring the penalty was really good. I thought we got control of the game and were really good after that.”
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