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Revealed: Hibs stick or twist approach addressed amid 'aggressive' UEFA Conference League rivals warning Scottish Premiership side defending a 2-1 lead against North Macedonians Hibs will not try to sit in and defend their slender one-goal lead in scorching Skopje, according to gaffer David Gray. And the Easter Road gaffer believes the chastening experience of suffering a European humiliation just across the border in Kosovo will make his players battle-hardened for Thursday night’s clash in North Macedonia. Hibs are 2-1 up in their UEFA Conference League third qualifying round tie against KF Shkendija, having carved out a hard-fought win in Edinburgh last week. Having eventually overcome FC Malisheva in the previous round, winning 4-1 at home after being embarrassed in a 2-0 loss in Pristina, Gray’s men remain fixated on becoming the first Hibs side to reach the group/league stages of European football in the modern era. Historic Ibrox win boosts confidence The manager, celebrating another historic first after leading Hibs to an away win over Rangers for the third consecutive season, something that hadn’t been achieved in 151 years of football, knows his team will travel to Skopje – where temperatures will be pushing 40 degrees centigrade – with confidence soaring. And he sees no reason to simply dig in and hope to squeak through with a goalless draw against “aggressive” hosts. “Technically, we don’t need to score over there,” he said: “But you can’t go over there thinking that we're just going to go and defend a lead. Absolutely not. “I think it'll be a very different environment, a very different game. The way the game will be played will be very different. “We wanted to use that home advantage. We were very aware of that going into the first leg, because I asked the players: ‘Can we take a lead over there, can we play with our intensity at home to give ourselves the advantage?’ “Certainly the second leg will be a different game in terms of the atmosphere, the heat, the challenge, the travel. All these things will be factors. “But also because we are winning in the tie at this moment in time, the opposition might be a little bit more aggressive. They need to find a way to get back into the game. “So we'll be ready for that. But we certainly won't be going over there thinking we need to just sit in and hold out for nil-nil. “And we know, despite winning on the night, that our quality wasn’t where it needed to be last week. That’s something we spoke about. “We know we can be miles better on the ball. And we need to be better in these situations. “But I think we will be better for that experience. We need to be, to give us the best chance to get through in the tie. “Winning in Europe is difficult, as we know, but we are winning the tie right now. And we're going to do everything to get into the next round.” Hardened by experience in Kosovo Hibs were roundly criticised for their loss to Malisheva, Gray – asked if his team had learned from the tough afternoon in the Kosovan capital – insisting: “I think you do. I think the players learn from the experience. “It's very rare that you have so many players off it on the one day. And that's something we definitely suffered on that day. “In terms of preparations and everything that went into it, I said it before the Kosovo game - and after the game in Kosovo - that I wouldn't change anything we'd done from a preparation point of view because everything was done properly. It just was one of those performances. “Now you could put that down to very early in the season, players not quite up to speed, the first competitive game. All the excuses were there if we wanted them. “We never used them because we knew we'd let ourselves down. And we knew we'd be better. “The biggest way to fix that was to go and turn it around in the return leg, which we did. So you can certainly learn from it. “But I think you can draw on the type of game it was as well, the atmosphere, the intensity. It will be quite similar when we go to Skopje now. “But this is a step up in opposition, we’ve seen that already. And we will have to be better than we were. But we’re very capable of going over there and winning the game.” Hibs made it to the play-offs last year, only losing out to Legia after extra time in Warsaw. At this stage of the competition last season, they eliminated Partizan Belgrade, with a 2-0 first-leg win in Serbia leading to a dramatic 3-2 home loss after extra time. “For the players that have been here, those are certainly experiences you can draw upon,” said Gray. “Put yourself back into the right moments when you're under pressure at times. “But the game plan will be different because we're going over there for a second leg, and are winning in the game. I think back to last year and going to Warsaw, when we were chasing the game – and then we obviously found ourselves down. There are different things you can learn from that. “But I think the more regularly you play in Europe and the players that get experience, the more accustomed they get to that sort of atmosphere and that way of playing. Because it is very different. “Even just simple things like flying the day before. And then the quick turnaround and flying straight back and then having to go again on the Sunday. “One thing that certainly helps is three points that we got at Ibrox. Certainly from a confidence point of view and belief point of view that the squad's going in the right direction.”