Irate Ross blames team’s surrender on a lack of heart

JACK ROSS last night accused his Hibs players of lacking heart after their second cup semi-final defeat in three months.

Despite dominating the early stages of the match and twice hitting the crossbar, the Edinburgh side fell behind to a header from St Johnstone defender Jason Kerr 10 minutes before half-time.

Manager Ross insists he used the half-time interval to warn his players against a second-half collapse but watched his team capitulate after falling further behind to a second set-piece goal from Shaun Rooney. A third from Craig Conway sealed the outcome.

While the manager (pictured) was prepared to give his charges the benefit of the doubt after a tight extra-time defeat to Hearts at the same stage of the held-over 2020 Scottish Cup on Halloween, he did not spare them his wrath this time.

Asked what his overriding emotion was post-match, he responded:

‘For me, it’s the anger at how we performed in the majority of the second half.

‘We were trying to get to a final and then you saw the response at conceding the second goal.

‘You need strength of character and resolve to battle through situations like that and we didn’t have that.

‘There was a lot today that was about guts and heart and drive. These things often get overlooked in the modern game but they are important. We fell short of that.’

Hibs looked set to justify their favourites tag during an encouraging opening to the match in which Jamie Murphy and Jackson Irvine both hit the goalframe amid a period of sustained pressure.

‘A lot of games are won in both penalty boxes,’ continued Ross.

‘We didn’t make the most of our opportunities and we didn’t defend set-pieces well enough.

‘That’s not like us because we have defended those well this season. At half-time, we stressed the importance of retaining our discipline. And I don’t mean in terms of going around kicking people.

‘We needed to get back to what we had done in the early part of the game but we lost our way badly with that. The reaction to the second goal is not good enough. We became ragged and that’s why we concede the third.

‘In the aftermath of the last semi-final we were talking about the fine margins of why we lost the game. If I had spoken to you after the first half tonight I might have said something similar but the reaction to adversity after conceding the second goal is not good enough.

‘You have to have courage and character to keep ploughing through trying situations because things in life are not always going to go your way.’

By far the most heartening aspect of a miserable day for Hibs was the return of Scott Allan. The midfielder has been absent for health reasons since August but was introduced in the wake of Saints’ third goal.

‘It’s going to take a while to get Scott back up to speed but professionally it’s good to see him back out there,’ added Ross. ‘More importantly is the human side of it. He has gone through a lot over the last few months and I’m pleased to see him back on a football pitch.’

Ross now faces the formidable task of lifting his players for the midweek visit of Rangers.

He admitted: ‘We don’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves given how quickly the next game comes round. We know where we want to finish this season and ultimately it’s my responsibility to ensure they respond as positively and as quickly as they can.’