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Hibs ready to 'suffer' amid heat warning as Martin Boyle injury update provided ahead of European clash Easter Road side 2-1 up heading into second leg in scorching Skopje Experienced Hibs playmaker Jamie McGrath insists the Scottish Premiership Euro ambassadors are ready to “suffer” in sweltering Skopje as they chase UEFA Conference League progress – and a chance to make yet more history. As Easter Road boss David Gray provided an upbeat injury bulletin on skipper Martin Boyle ahead of tomorrow night’s third qualifying round clash with KF Shkendija, McGrath admitted that the visitors may have to temper their enthusiasm amid a severe weather alert issued for the North Macedonian capital. Gray’s men are defending a 2-1 lead from last week’s win at Easter Road as they head into the second leg at the National Arena Todor Proeski. Larnaca lesson stuck with midfielder European veteran McGrath, who made his debut in UEFA club competitions over a decade ago, knows from experience that soaring temperatures can be a major factor in the contest. The former Aberdeen, Dundee United and St Mirren star learned that early in his career. “We're going to have to suffer together,” he warned, adding: “We can take pride in that, enjoy the tough work and hopefully have that winning feeling tomorrow night. “I've played somewhere years ago when I was at Dundalk. We went out to Larnaca, AEK Larnaca. I can't remember the first leg, it was either a draw or we were 1-0 up, but it was a completely different game over there. “I think we were two or three down after half an hour. We just tried to implement our game. We pressed high. Yeah, it was a difficult. “We can't probably play it the same kind of style as what we like to play at home. But we've seen on Sunday (in the 2-1 away win over Rangers) that we're capable of doing both sides. We can sit in and be hard to break down. I think it suits us on the counter-attack as well. “We want to get on the front foot and take the belief on from Sunday, get the result.” Explaining how the heat is likely to influence players, McGray said being smart was as important as working hard, explaining: “That comes with experience as well. Slowing games down and little things like that can affect the end result. “Every game poses different challenges. You can't really press with such intensity for 90 minutes. “We might have to take spells of sitting in and counter-attacking and vice versa. They'll have to sit in because they won't be able to press the way they did in Easter Road as well. It'll be a different game. “Even on Sunday we had to dig deep that last 10 minutes. It's a great way to win a game. I think it's certainly an enjoyable feeling coming off the pitch, winning it the way we did on Sunday and obviously digging in for large periods of the game. “I'm not sure if it's something we'll have to do tomorrow. But we know if we do have to do it, we're well capable of doing it. “We're all teammates and we all want to try and achieve something that a Hibs team haven't – reaching the league stages.” Skipper missed Ibrox win over Rangers Gray, meanwhile, insisted Boyle had always been scheduled to miss Sunday’s win over Rangers at Ibrox. But the veteran forward trained in Skopje tonight, with his recurring Achilles’ tendon problem not considered bad enough to keep him out of the contest. “It's been an ongoing thing throughout pre-season, to be honest, we've just been managing him,” he revealed. “And it's something that we always knew, the quick turnaround, he's been Thursday, Sunday, Thursday, Sunday. “By the time we got to the Rangers game, we always knew it was going to be too quick, just because of how it started to feel. So we deloaded him over the weekend, with Thursday in mind obviously. And he's trained again today, he seems to be in a pretty good place again, which is the most important thing.” Hibs trained on arrival in Skopje, getting a brief taste of what to expect amid extreme weather warnings, Gray saying: “It’s everything we expected it to be, to be fair. And that's the minute you come off the plane and you feel the heat, so the difference in temperature. “Straight away it will probably lend itself to a slightly different type of game. You're at home in the first leg and you wanted to use the home advantage in a real fast start. “Now I expect probably the opposition to be a wee bit more with that mindset of being at home and trying to get a fast start. “Can we be better in possession, knowing that it is warmer to try and play in, so it does become a lot more difficult? But the players are aware of that, they've had training just now, just to feel it as well. “We've been on the pitch now as well, so there's certainly no excuses, we're ready to go. We're prepared properly and everything we thought it was going to be, it certainly is. “The pitch is fine, it's a wee bit soft in places. I think that's something we benefit from being on it. “The big thing is making sure you get your footwear right going into the game. Just because you're overseas and you know it's very hot, there's a tendency to think the pitch is always going to be really firm. “But it's quite soft underfoot there as well, so thinking it might be a rubber stud, it might be a metal stud now. So I think, especially for defenders, that'll be something they'll have to look at. But we're always ready for that.”