Nectar Triantis remains on loan at Hibernian after becoming a key player

David Gray has praised Nectar Triantis for establishing himself as a key man in Hibernian’s midfield as he confirmed the Sunderland loanee will remain at Easter Road for the remainder of the season.

The 21-year-old Australian joined Hibs on a season-long loan this summer following a relatively low-key loan spell with the Edinburgh club in the second half of last term under Nick Montgomery.

Triantis became one of Hibs’ most important players as they recovered from a poor start to rise from the bottom of the Premiership to sixth place with a run of six wins and just one defeat in their last 10 matches.

Triantis – who moved from centre-back to central midfielder under Gray – headed the winner against Kilmarnock a fortnight ago and scored his second career goal on Saturday by delivering a man-of-the-match performance in a triumph 3-1. at home in Motherwell.

“No, he’ll still be there, which is great,” Gray said, ruling out the possibility of Sunderland recalling Triantis this month.

“Even though he is on loan, I think he has shown that he is really part of the team and is really enjoying his football at the moment.

“He did very well again today. I thought he was everywhere in the first half, with very good composure on the ball as well, and then even at times in the second half, interrupting the play. He didn’t play as a central midfielder for a long period of his career.

“Obviously he came in as a central defender, so we’ve done a lot of work with him to try to get him into that (midfield) position, and you can clearly see he’s improving and is in better shape all the time.

“He’s still young, you forget he’s only 21, and he has this attitude and this desire to continue to improve.”

Martin Boyle was also on the scoresheet with a brace, with Well hitting back from a Callum Slattery free-kick.

The visitors’ misery was further compounded when they had Jack Vale sent off in stoppage time as they emerged from a grueling run of matches since the Friday before Christmas with just one win in seven.

Manager Stuart Kettlewell is relieved his beleaguered side – who have added Aston goalkeeper Oxborough and Paul McGinn to a significant injury list – will not have a midweek game as they prepare for a Cup trip. Scotland at St Johnstone on Saturday.

“We were waiting for this break (the break),” he said.

“You can see the energy levels are low. I made six changes (against Hibs) to try to keep freshness in our squad, but we have played six games in the last 17 days.

“The players didn’t leave the club for a single day over Christmas and New Year. It cost us dearly.

“If you play every 2.8 days, it will have that impact. We have to give the players a day off. We need to get them out of this place and get them back on their feet.