Graham Stack accepts blame for Stokes goal but is pleased with penalty save reaction

IF POINTS were being handed out for honesty, then Hibernian would already be off the mark for the season. Goalkeeper Graham Stack yesterday accepted full responsibility for the error which saw Hibs make the start they dreaded when they gifted a goal to Celtic within the opening 15 minutes.

The Hibs fans also rued a later decision which denied their side an opportunity to get back into the game. Ivan Sproule tumbled in the box after a challenge from Kelvin Wilson but referee Iain Brines waved play-on. Easter Road manager Colin Calderwood later acknowledged that Brines was unable to award a penalty if he had not seen what television pictures later indicated, which was that Wilson impeded Sproule.

"I think he (Brines] makes the right one (decision] in terms of where the ball is," said Calderwood. "But when you see footage from behind the goal there is an arm on the shoulder and that is at least part of the reason Ivan does not get across the defender."

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"The referee can't give the penalty," he added. "It's a foul technically. But the referee has made the right decision because he can't see what the camera saw from behind the goal."

Ten minutes later Hibs went further behind through a goal from the impressive Ki Sung-Yueng, and all hope of rescuing the situation was gone. Stack did redeem himself when saving a later penalty from Gary Hooper, after Sproule's foul on Emilio Izaguirre.

He certainly used his hands to better effect than in the first-half, when the goalkeeper tried and failed to claim Kris Commons' free-kick. He later held up these self-same hands and admitted his error had set Celtic on their way. The visitors had made little impression on the game in an attacking sense prior to the mistake.

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Stack did suggest he had been given a slight nudge as he attempted to catch the ball but did not use this, or the strong sunlight, as an excuse for dropping the ball at Anthony Stokes' feet. "I am disappointed," he said. "I came in at half-time and took full responsibility for the goal. It was my fault. I should have dealt better with the ball in the box. Unfortunately for me the ball fell to Anthony Stokes, who we all know can put the ball in from anywhere really. We had four players on the line, and it's probably the only place he could have put it."

"I think there was contact if I am honest," he added. "But I am not going to sit here and make excuses. I thought there was contact at the time. I have had the chance to look at it on the laptop in the dressing room after the game. It's not very clear. It's too far away. But me and Ian Murray end up on the floor and I felt there was contact. But there is no two ways about it - I should have done better with the goal."

Stack had been desperate to put on a good show after his injury struggles last season. He was handed a new contract by Calderwood, who has nominated Stack as his No 1.

"I was keen today to get back in the side and make a real stand," he said. "It's the way you react from mistakes. And I felt that was a big positive for me today. I could quite easily have gone under, with the game being on TV, in front of a big crowd and against a big side. It's a test of character. You come in at half-time and obviously you are disappointed you are 1-0 down. But the boys were great and the gaffer was great. They just said: 'listen, it's not about what's gone, it's about where you go from here'. I was determined to turn things round for myself."

Calderwood is also hoping Hibs can lift themselves ahead of this weekend's awkward assignment at Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

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He said he was "absolutely 100 per cent" sure that continued speculation about his own future had not impacted on the team's performance. "We just don't have the experience to get through 90 minutes at the moment," he said.

"The disappointing thing is we want to be a lot closer to taking points off Celtic and we weren't that close in the end today. Irrespective of (whether it's] Celtic, Rangers or St Johnstone, we want to be more competitive. Going forward, the next time we come up against the Old Firm we want it to be a competition, which eventually it wasn't in the second-half today."

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