Ross insist she’s not ready to press the panic button
JACK ROSS admits Hibernian have reached a crucial crossroads in their campaign following a dismal defeat against Livingston.
The Hibees succumbed to a comprehensive 3- 0 reverse against the Lions, conceding sloppy strikes to Josh Mullin, Jon Guthrie and Scott Robinson amid a display which Ross described as “some way south” of their 2-0 loss to Ross County in midweek.
The capital club – still in fourth spot but reeling from three successive defeats – now have an eight- day break before an onerous trip to Celtic Park and Ross says that period will be used to reflect and refocus.
“We didn’t do all aspects of the game well enough,” Ross said bluntly.
“We didn’t defend well and we weren’t creative enough in what we did going forward.
“It’s not panic stations because, in the main, we have had a good season and the players have done a lot of good things.
“But it is an acute reminder to them if they don’t do the basic part of the game properly then it’s not easy to get results.
“We have a relatively long time until the next game and this is a bit of a key moment for us.
“We have had a couple of those this season – when we have had to step back and ask ourselves where we want to go – and, in the main, we have responded well.
“This is another of those moments; do we want the season to drift or do we want to achieve what we set out to do this season?
“I have a lot of faith in the group but I think they know that we were a long way short of where we needed to be today.” Discussing the comedy of errors which lead to Robinson making it 3- 0, with Ryan Porteous and Paul Hanlon both failing to deal with a simple high ball, allowing the diminutive Livi man to score, Ross added: “It’s an incredibly poor goal for us to lose and they know that.”
The tone was set for a miserable afternoon at the office for Ross just minutes before kick off when O fir Marcia no dropped out due to a recurrence of his calf complaint, with Dillon Barnes coming into the side and looking anything but commanding. And Ross added: “It is not ideal preparation for the game.
“We lost Ofir in the last few minutes before the team was due to come out – but that is not a reason for us losing.
“It is the same type of injury in a slightly different area, but I have not had a chance to speak to medical staff about it.
“We have some time before the next game so we will see how he is.”