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Hibs boss David Gray reveals most important factor in UEFA Conference League win amid 'character' claim Sweltering Skopje the scene for second leg - but North Macedonians aiming to turn up heat with game plan David Gray hailed his players for showing grit and character to bounce back from a body blow equaliser to claim a dramatic late UEFA Conference League win at Easter Road. And he’s backed Hibs to show improvement as they look to finish the job in North Macedonia next week. Gray’s men will head to Skopje for the second leg of their third qualifying round tie defending a 2-1 lead, with Owen Elding putting the hosts in front for less than three minutes before they conceded a sickening equaliser – setting the scene for a 90th-minute winner from Warren O’Hora. Irish defender bagged late winner The Hibs boss said: “The players showed character to get back in front again. We didn’t play our best but found a way to win the game - we have to take confidence from that. “I reminded the players about that winning feeling - we won the game. Can we play better and did I want us to play better? Yes and I know we will be. “Winning games of football is difficult, it’s half-time in the tie and the thing that gives me confidence is we can be a lot better than we were tonight.” Aware that the job is only half done, Gray said: “We wanted to maximise being at home. The second leg will certainly be very different, the atmosphere and temperature will be different. “We wanted to take a lead over there, we are doing that and we will learn from this leg. “They are a good side who are used to being in Europe, you could see that. We know we have to be better and I know we will be better. “We tried to force it too much and made too many errors tonight, turning the ball over too many times. But winning is difficult, especially in Europe. “You could feel the frustration in the stadium and the way we were pegged back, we got pulled into trying to score to make sure we were winning in the tie. The subs were positive when they came on. We need everyone because we’ll have to change things now with Sunday (Rangers away) in mind.” Away boss visa delay Shkendija boss Artim Polozani, who arrived in Scotland at 11 am today after a visa delay, believes his team can overturn the deficit in sweltering Skopje next Thursday night. But he won’t be relying on temperature alone – the forecast is to be in the high 30s centigrade – to make Hibs wilt. Polozani said: “Maybe we will take advantage of the weather. But we can’t forget to do our job. “We have to do the work, we have to be at our best and play at our best if we want to advance to the next stage. We saw that with the tough game we had tonight. “How this game went, maybe the result is right. But how the second goal for Hibs came, we should have prevented that situation.” The head coach, who came up against Aberdeen back in his playing days, added: “So yes, the weather can be a factor. From my experience before, playing against a Scottish team, the conditions were a problem for them. “But it can not be the crucial thing. Because we cannot forget that we will be up against a good team.”