Anthony Stokes berates lack of spirit and vows Easter Road side must go back to basics

HIBERNIAN striker Anthony Stokes blamed his team's lack of character for their comprehensive defeat by Rangers yesterday. The Irishman opened the scoring in the first minute of the game, but as any casual jogger will tell you, starting off with a sprint can leave you short of energy long before the end of a run, and Hibs were spent as an active force some time before referee Iain Brines called a halt to proceedings.

A lack of mental toughness was to blame for the way in which Hibs went down to defeat according to Stokes, who pronounced himself "devastated" by the 4-1 loss. "It was just a bad performance today," the striker said. "We didn't show up.

"Obviously we started the game very well, but too many heads went when they got the first two goals. I've no idea (why]. I'm just very disappointed with the way we've all played today.

"At home a 1-0 lead should do you. It would have been nice to nick another goal when we had been playing so well for the first 20 minutes, but there weren't too many characters out there today. No-one stepped up to the plate, and that goes for all of us."

While accepting that Rangers had played well, Stokes was more concerned with his own team's shortcomings, and emphasised the need to recover their form quickly. "Even if we had grafted as hard as we could today, when you give teams like Rangers and Celtic chances like that – easy chances – there's no point in saying to the lads in the dressing-room there was a slack pass here that led to the goal, because each of them knows that the goals they got were gifted to them.

"We've got to get back to basics now, and look to the game on Wednesday to bounce back. It's a massive game for us now, and we need to show we're not going to let this get our heads down."

Stokes' disappointment was expressed most succinctly when he was asked if, despite the result, Hibs could still be title challengers. "Obviously not, there's no chance," he replied.

Hibs manager John Hughes has consistently said his team are not ready to take on the Old Firm over the course of the season, and that was perhaps why he was less downhearted than Stokes after the Edinburgh side's heaviest defeat of the season. "We got a fantastic start and were on the front foot for a good 20 or 30 minutes," he said. "Rangers deservedly ran out convincing winners over the course of the game. Did they have to do much to beat us? I think we beat ourselves at times with the goals that we gave away."

As he watched his team piece together a 12-match unbeaten run before yesterday's defeat, Hughes knew it would come to an end sooner or later, and that knowledge helped him almost to write off the loss. "I'm not going to be too hard on my boys, who have been fantastic since I came to the club, and this might be a blessing in disguise. It was always going to happen. We were always going to lose that game. What we need to do is roll our sleeves up and see if we can bounce right back from it.

"Possibly we can't match the Old Firm, which is disappointing. You're playing against the Scottish champions, a team that has hit form, and for 30 minutes there's a wee bit (of hope].

"Then I think we got scared a wee bit. It's my job to ask why, so the next time we come up against that challenge we're better for it."

Besides being tasked with lifting his whole squad, Hughes has two individual problems to deal with for the visit to St Johnstone on Wednesday. One is how to replace Sol Bamba, who is flying out to the African Cup of Nations, and the other concerns his goalkeepers. He hopes Yves Makalambay will be all right to play despite a hamstring strain, but knows that, with Graham Stack already injured, he will have no experienced cover if the Belgian is ruled out.