Top line summary

  • Played good football but 'not good enough'
  • Frustrated to concede so soon after scoring
  • On the penalty: 'Better not asking me'.

What was your take on the game?

"I thought in patches we played good football, but not good enough today. Against quality opposition what you have you do is the basics well and stop crosses, pick up in the box and block shots at the edge of the box. We know they have quality players, disappointed that we got back into the game and conceded in injury time, seven minutes and it was minute five or six. You just want to get in at half-time 1-1 and give yourself a platform to build on for the second half so to concede in the manner we did with a basic error in the box, marking the wrong side is disappointing because the team talk is different at half time.

"We needed goals to get back into the game and for a ten-minute period we had a couple of good opportunities down the left-hand side with  Myziane and Youan, you have to punish them when you have those chances and we lacked the final pass, that final decision-making. There were a lot of subs made today, some enforced and the game lost its way a little bit and it is a good strike at the end, we have to block that shot and at that point, 3-1, you really are chasing the game. Disappointed in the result, we could have done the basics better than we did today but we have to move on, we have two big games coming up."

Frustrating to concede again so soon after scoring?

"I thought at times we kept the ball well, not as good as we can do and yes you can feel that frustration because they expect their teams to be creating a lot of opportunities and I thought we limited them to crosses. They have got some dangerous players and good deliveries from wide areas and that is something you have to be conscious of. Tavernier's goal comes from a cross and again we don't clear it properly and it is probably the last player you want it to land to because he strikes the ball really well and the timing of the second goal knocks you because you work so hard to get into the game and at that moment, going in 2-1 down is a big difference to the players' mentality and the team talk.

"The timing of the second goal really knocks you because you’ve worked so hard to get back into the game. Going in 1-1 as opposed to 2-1 down at half-time is a massive difference, both for the players’ mentality and for me as a coach for the team talk. But I thought we came out in the second half and we created some good opportunities but if you don’t take them and you don’t block shots at the edge of the box, you’re going to concede goals. We came here on the back of a good run and we now have two big games, starting with St Johnstone on Saturday."

READ MORE: Hibs instant analysis - Good in patches, familiar failings

What was your view on the penalty?

"You’re better not asking me. I’m probably disappointed to concede it but I’ve said that too often so I’ll leave it to everybody else to give their opinion on it. It was another good save from David Marshall from Tavernier which isn’t easy, and thankfully there was a foot in the box so the goal was disallowed. That was maybe a bit of justice. You need a bit of luck when you come places like this and that was maybe a bit we needed. To then get back in the game then concede just before half-time, on the basis of that we probably didn’t deserve anything from the game today. They’re a quality team, for me right now they’re probably the best team in the competition, they’ve got some quality players. You can’t leave them unmarked in the box or let them shoot from the edge of the box otherwise you’re going to get punished - and we did today."

Was it disappointing not to create more chances?

"We play out from the back, we’re brave in doing that when we come to a place like this. But once you break that press and arrive inthe final third, that’s when you need a bit of composure. Even later in the game, we had one or two opportunities, where you need to take an extra touch in the box. Everybody wants to score in big games and in big atmospheres. We have a playing style that’s going to get us into the final third but you have to make it count when you get there. If you don’t they’ll punish you and we got punished today with some quality strikes."