Sumderland’s Nectar Triantis is thriving on loan at Hibernian in the Scottish Championship. The 21-year-old Australian returned in the summer for a second loan spell at Easter Road, after ending last campaign in Leith.
He has been moved from his natural defender role to a defensive-minded midfielder, so far playing 13 Premiership matches. Hibs head coach David Gray sees the position as longer term and he told the Edinburgh Evening News: “I think he’s had a couple of tough moments in his Hibs career, one thing he always does is he always takes responsibility, which is great. I think he’s in the last couple of weeks shown a level of consistency again. He’s improving all the time, you forget he’s still a young boy, he’s still learning.
“He’s still probably adapting as well at times to a different position, because he’s not played as many games in the middle of the pitch as he has at centre-back in recent years. I think he’s done well there, and I think it’s definitely where I see him playing.”
Gray was in the coaching crew when Nick Montgomery managed Triantis during his first spell on loan at Hibs from Sunderland. A defensive mindset is part of the reason why the current head coach sees him move up a place in the team. He explained: “I think it’s when you’ve got probably different players around them as well, so when you think about other players that are playing beside them, when you’ve played centre-back you’ve naturally got that little bit more of a defensive mentality when we lose the ball.
“Whereas maybe other players that have played in that position previously might have been more forward thinking, so I think you naturally have that little defensive mindset there. His first thought might be to do that rather than to try and empty the middle of the pitch for example. But also he’s comfortable on the ball, he’s good with both feet.
“His range of passing is good, so when you look at the physical attributes he’s got, he’s fit enough to get about and covers the ground well, so he’s got all the attributes to be a really good number six, which is what I’ve always thought he would be.”
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