Alan Maybury calls on Hibs to fix travel bug

Published on 10/12/2012 12:00

Alan Maybury today called on Hibs to show a greater 
consistency “on the road” after defeat in Inverness saw Pat Fenlon’s side slip from second to fourth in the SPL table.

The Capital club suffered another day of misery in the Caledonian Stadium as goals from Ross Draper, Richie Foran and Billy McKay saw them beaten for the ninth time in 13 visits to Inverness over the past seven years.

Fenlon watched as his players, buoyed by their William Hill Scottish Cup triumph over Hearts only six days earlier, lost for the fifth time in the league away from home, a flaw which Maybury admitted needed to be addressed with some urgency.

Recalling how Hibs had also been beaten by Ross County in Dingwall earlier in the season, the veteran defender said: “We need to find a level of performance that is not up there one week and down there the next week, especially up one week at home and down the next on the road.

“Some of the games we have played away from home – St Johnstone, St Mirren, Celtic – we have done all right but on these long trips we have not been at it for whatever reason and we need to fix it.”

And Maybury insisted the fact Hibs had gone from the white-hot cauldron of an Edinburgh derby against Hearts in the Scottish Cup, in front of a 17,000 crowd, to the more sedate surroundings of Inverness to play before only 3400 fans was no excuse, blaming the defeat on “things that are preventable” such as the easy surrender of possession and the concession of soft goals.

When that suggestion was put to him he replied: “Certainly not – or it should not. At home we generally have performed to a good level but we need to find a system, a way, a desire or whatever you call it to be better on the road.”

Meanwhile tickets for the January 3 derby at Tynecastle went on sale to Hibs season ticket holders today, restricted to one each.

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