Manager fears Hibs are still a soft touch
Hibernian manager Jack Ross insists his side need to show more strength of character if they want to enjoy a successful end to the season.
Ross has transformed the Easter Road side since replacing Paul Heck ing bottom in November.
However, the former St Mirren and Sunderland boss believes they are still a soft touch at times, as they showed again at Pittodrie.
For the second game in a row they surrendered three second- half goals to end the day nine points off third- placed Motherwell.
Losing 3- 1 at home to Hearts last midweek was painful enough but the way they collapsed after Steven Whittaker’s red card shortly after the break at Pittodrie was too much to bear.
They had been ahead through Christain Doidge’s goal, and Ross knew they should have done better with 10 men.
He said: “I’ve been in charge of teams that have done it, I have seen teams do it and we were ahead in the game, which is not a bad starting point.
“It’s not like we had 10 men and we were chasing the game. So we need to be better with our response to adversity.
“We’re a good team and we showed that for the first hour of the game. Our response to Tuesday night was excellent. But that period immediately after the sending off is the one that costs us the game. And the goals were pretty soft.
“So it’s a bit of mixed emotions. I was really pleased with the players for the first hour and the character they showed to respond from Tuesday.
“But we weren’ t resolute enough in the period post-sending-off.”
Earning a European place through the league now looks a forlorn hope but the real worry would be missing out on a top six finish.
Hibs are now just one point ahead of seventhplaced St Johnstone who visit Easter Road on Saturday.
Ross added: “I always felt it would be the case anyway when you looked at Kilmarnock’s form and St Johnstone’s form of late.
“So it never felt there were six teams clear of the others. The league has remained incredibly tight all year.
“It is in our hands rather than having to chase something. So it’s a big game for us next Saturday but one I think we’ll handle OK.
“It’s been a sore week, we haven’t had many weeks like that recently where we have had back-to-back defeats.
“We have an opportunity to have a clear week to next Saturday and next Saturday we’ll be ready to go again.”