Veteran Stevenson insists Hibs must get back to basics after third straight defeat

Veteran defender Lewis Stevenson believes Hibs must get back to the basics after the Easter Road side slipped to a third straight defeat against Aberdeen on Saturday.

Christian Ramirez volleyed the Dons into the lead on 27 minutes and, although the visitors spent more time in the opposition box in the second half, they were unable to really test Joe Lewis in the Aberdeen goal.

Stevenson knows Hibs have to turn things around quickly, starting with the visit of Glasgow giants Celtic on Wednesday night – a fixture the defender feels is almost a free hit for the Capital club.

“Whenever you lose a football match it’s disappointing, the left-back said after the Aberdeen loss. “However, the game’s gone.

“I didn’t think there was a lot in the game – small margins again, but in both boxes I don’t think we were good enough,”

“We’ve had a tough run of fixtures, but I think it probably shows how far we’ve come that losing three games in a row is the worst run we’ve had in a while.

"We’ve got a massive game on Wednesday and it’s one where we’ve almost got nothing to lose.

"We’ll give it everything we’ve got.”

Asked how Hibs can go about rectifying their worst run of games since the turn of the year, Stevenson believes the first step is perhaps the most simple.

“I think we just need to get back to the basics,” the 33-year-old offered.

“We need to be hard to beat and then we’ll see where that takes us.”

Stevenson also gave an insight into the mood in the camp after the game, when he suggested that there had been some frank exchanges in the away dressing room at Pittodrie after cinch Premiership match.

"There were some home truths and some honest words said in the changing room and I think it was needed,” he explained.

“Fine margins can change a lot of what you can do.

“If we’d scored first against Aberdeen the result might have gone the other way.

“It was two teams that aren’t in great form and the game maybe showed that.”