Partick boss interested in taking Hibs striker Gray on loan again

PARTICK THISTLE boss Ian McCall has expressed an interest in taking Hibs striker Damon Gray back to Firhill on loan next season.

The youngster spent three months with the First Division side last term and was a regular in the Jags side which finished in sixth spot in the table.

Gray found the back of the net four times for the Glasgow outfit, with his most notable goal coming in a 1-1 draw against Rangers at Ibrox in the Scottish Cup quarter-final.

The 19-year-old forward is highly rated at Easter Road and made two top-team appearances last season but has Steven Fletcher, Colin Nish, Abdessalam Benjelloun, Clayton Donaldson and Ross Campbell currently ahead of him in the pecking order.

Talks between the clubs have yet to take place with Hibs boss Mixu Paatelainen currently on holiday, however, McCall admitted he would be keen to utilise the players' skills again next season if Hibs were receptive to an approach.

"Hibs might want to keep him at the start of the season but I haven't had the chance to speak to Mixu about it yet. It's not something I would rule out happening," said McCall.

"He did very well for us and then probably needed left out for a few games, but we had to keep playing him.

"When he came back in he did really well and when he was scoring goals for us he did really well.

"I think he's a better player now as it's a different world from playing reserve football. He has aspects of his game that he needs to improve on but one thing that he's got going for him that a lot of strikers don't is that he's a top-notch natural finisher."