What Nick Montgomery said on Hibs future after Dons defeat

How difficult an afternoon was that?

"There have been some difficult moments this season but that was real tough one. I thought for 30 minutes we had all the play, we had numerous box entries, shots on target, all the momentum, and then they have one shot and we concede. That's happened too many times this season and then from that moment, we have a second shot on target conceded and we are 2-0 down. That's really disappointing and frustrating. It was deflating for the players and the fans because they turned up today and I thought they got behind the team. But from 30 minutes on the players are frustrated and deflated. I said at half time we need to get the first goal back. We've had a one-on-one with Myziane and we've had a couple of chances where we possibly could have scored but we didn't, but then on the counter attack we got punished twice. That's how the game went and anyone watching the game would have seen that. Because of that, there's going to be a lot of frustration. It's a game that we wanted to win. There are two games to go and we just have to move on now and try to get a win on Wednesday."

The fans made their feelings known at full-time, what would you say to them?

“The expectation on this club and the pressure from the fans is normal. Moving forward we need players who can accept that pressure and expectation. I understand their frustration. It was an embarrassing result for us at home. For 30 minutes we were good enough to be a goal or two ahead. They’ve seen it too many times, they’ve had to much frustration over recent seasons. I can say no doubt that it’s just as frustrating for me. We can't change the result now. We have to move on to Wednesday and try to put it right.”

The club's statement recently put a lot of focus on your position - have you had any feedback since full-time?

“No. Since the statement came out there’s been a lot of people taking what they want out of it. For me it’s not really changed anything. We wanted to finish the season strongly. We had a real good result and performance at St Johnstone. We had a good performance but not the result at Ross County, a mistake cost us the game. Today the performance was very good for 30 minutes then after that it was really flat and disappointing. There’s two games and six points to play for. Nothing has changed. I knew coming in it was a big challenge, this season was going to be difficult. There’s been difficult moments and today was a real difficult one. But you have to stand tall and I’ve told the players we need to put it right on Wednesday."

Are you still confident you can take this club where you want to go?

“Yeah, I remain confident. I believe in myself and in the direction I feel I can take the club. Those were the discussions we had when I took the job. Of course, my worry was managers have changed numerous times. But the board were really supportive.  I have had one January transfer window. I tried to bring in players to improve the squad and felt like we did. But with a summer transfer window coming up and the chance to bring in players on permanent contracts and have a good pre-season, which is really important to build a culture and environment, I believe in myself. But results like today don’t help because there has been a lot of frustration and negativity around the club for a long time. I have said we need a bit of patience now. Change is difficult and uncomfortable. But today’s result was difficult for everyone because you don’t want to be losing at home and conceding the goals we did. That’s also because we don’t punish teams when we have chances and we had plenty of chances today."

Is there a lack of leadership in this team?

“That’s a question that has been asked all season. We had some players with good experience on the pitch today, but January is not a time to bring leaders in because no one lets them go then. And if you are going to be signing players in January they are going to cost a lot of money and you are going to have to put them on multiple-year contracts. Moving forward we need a bit more leadership but we also need quality in key areas. It’s quality over quantity because there are a lot of contracted players at the club. What we need to match the expectation is a strong starting team and bench that can get us where we need to be. We've got good young players at the club who have made debuts this season - the future for those boys is really bright. But results are going to overshadow that at times. The players are hurting, and I'm hurting because you want to win every game. We lost that game on basics then we're chasing it. That's not good enough. The players were dejected, and the frustration from the fans is difficult to play with and it boosts the other team as well."

Do you feel you will be allowed to see out this season after this result?

"Yeah. Well, I hope so, unless anything's changed. The discussions I had coming into the club were that they knew the challenge we had this season. The big picture was the investment coming in from Black Knight FC moving forward, the opportunity to put your own squad together, which every manager wants to do. We need four, five players - we don't need loads of players. It's quality, we need the quality in the building. Obviously, players will move on out of contract that have been at the club a long time. There's definitely change coming and we need a little bit of patience."