Lewis Stevenson has seen it all during his incredible 17 years as a Hibs first team player.
But don’t think for a minute that losing five games out of six isn’t hurting the 34-year-old. One look at the left back’s haunted featured at the end of Tuesday’s 2-0 home defeat to Ross County told its own story. He has been on the wrong end of plenty of scorelines in the past, but it was the manner of this one that stung.
Lee Johnson’s men were shocking and were booed off the pitch by a disgruntled support who were short-changed and with a trip to Rugby Park looming before the World Cup break, Stevenson knows there has to be a response. He also knows the last thing the Hibs players and staff must do is panic. Such is the cut-throat nature of the Premiership that Hibs remain in the fight for third place despite this horror run of results and all is not lost.
“I’ve been in this situation a few times and you can’t panic,” Stevenson, who replaced Dimitri Mitchell in the first half, said. “You need to step up and be a man and put on a performance and hopefully that can take you back up the table.
“We have a talented bunch of players and good athletes, I see them training every day but we need to do it on the pitch.
“From the defeats we’ve had I don’t think the performances have been that bad but against Ross County it was totally different - with and without the ball we were not good enough.
“They defended their box a lot better than we did and made it hard for us.
“For all the stuff that goes on in games, it’s both boxes that make the difference and we’ve not been good enough. With the final pass, crosses - there is a lot that was not good enough.
“I thought we looked a bit nervous, were playing within ourselves and Easter Road is not the place you can do that.
“It was a young team that started but we still had experienced boys there in the backbone of the team. No matter what age, I think we need to be better.
“Simple things like defending, passing - it was not good enough. County scoring just before half time, we had time to go and do something but I don’t think we created any chances of note.”
Stevenson has seen many managers come and go over his long spell in Leith and he believes current boss Johnson will get it right.
He added: “We were set up properly, and we know our jobs but when we get to games it’s individual errors, people not taking their chances and a lack of quality. I feel for the gaffer because there are only so many things he can do.
“The break isn’t coming at the right time for us because we want to win some games and pick up more points. We have a tough game on Saturday, it’s a must win for us.
“But Tuesday was a must win and we didn’t do it.
“We need to get the season back going, we had a decent points tally. The performances have not been bad recently, despite the results, but Tuesday was different.”
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