HIBERNIAN manager David Gray bemoaned the late lapse in concentration at a set piece which allowed Hearts to snatch an equaliser in the Edinburgh derby – but expressed confidence his men can haul themselves off the foot of the William Hill Premiership table.
Hibs were the better team for much of the match against their city rivals in Leith this afternoon and deservedly took the lead in the 65th minute when substitute Mykola Kuharevich scored at a Junior Hoilett free-kick.
However, they let the visitors’ teenage replacement James Wilson to level after a James Penrice throw-in with just three minutes of regulation time remaining and only had a point to show for their efforts when referee Don Robertson brought an end to the match.
The agonising result means that the bottom-placed capital outfit remain behind their Gorgie rivals on goal difference. "I feel like it's two points dropped again,” said Gray. “I don't think anybody could deny that we deserved to win the game on chances created.
"Unfortunately, it's a similar story. One moment of defending at a long throw at the very end when unfortunately there are people not doing their job properly.
“For 99 per cent of the game today, I thought we were excellent defensively. I thought a lot of boys put their bodies on the line, put in a lot of big blocks and made big clearances and restricted Hearts to very few chances.
“But a long throw comes into the box and [Alan] Forrest runs in unopposed. He should be marked. We lose the first contact, that probably makes it tougher to take. It's not great, it's not as if he's a 6ft 2in centre back coming up and heading the ball.
“So we lose the first contact, then second contact and then we're sleeping at the back post. That's not something we work on in the training pitch. You work on everybody doing their job properly. It's not as if they don't get that information of course.
“We've actually fallen short in that area already this season on a few occasions, in the Motherwell game for example. There's a lot of work that goes into it because it's such a big part of the game. It's not as if the work's not being done to do it.
“In that moment again, we've let ourselves down at that time. It undoes all the hard work and effort that went into securing that clean sheet. Up until that point, I thought we were well worthy of it.”
Gray added: “I don't think panicking is the right word because up until that moment, I thought we dealt with everything that Hearts threw at us. We could make it easier for ourselves by taking the chances going the other way.
“I think that would calm the nerves and a little bit of pressure. But the longer the game goes on and people start to throw things forward, that's going to happen. When there's only one goal in the game, you always leave yourself open to teams throwing everything at it late on in the game because they've got nothing to lose. That's what happened today.
“It can be a number of things. It can be switching off in that moment. It can be just concentration levels or a real desire and hunger to go and actually head the ball and do everything you can to defend the goal. Like I say, for 99 per cent of the game today, I thought the players did that.”
Hibs have won just one Premiership match this season – they beat St Johnstone at home back in September – but Gray remains convinced they can put their disappointing run behind them and is looking forward to the game against Ross County in Dingwall on Wednesday night.
“I would be a lot more concerned if we weren't creating chances,” he said. “So that's the positives we need to take from that. So there's a lot of positives to take for the game again today.
“So we need to then look at the positives, which is it's a point. We’ve lost the last three games. To get a point in the derby is never a disaster even if it feels like two points dropped. We need to be more resolute at the back. But we can't be sitting here feeling sorry for ourselves.
“We find ourselves where we are in the league, but we've got an opportunity very quickly on Wednesday to try and change that again. And we're all going to get back to work as hard as we can tomorrow to try and do that.”
