Chris Hogg and his fellow defenders should not carry can for defeat, insists Colin Calderwood

MORE than two full months into his tenure as Hibernian manager, Colin Calderwood may well feel he is still only starting to get to grips with the problems in his team. Yesterday's defeat was the former Scotland defender's sixth in nine league matches since he succeeded John Hughes, and was particularly troubling for Calderwood as it came against opponents who beforehand had been even more lacking in self-belief.

Both Aberdeen's goals came from mistakes by Hibs centre-half Chris Hogg, but the malaise at Easter Road goes far deeper than the shortcomings of one or two individuals. Sixteen Hibs players are out of contract in the summer, and Calderwood could be forgiven for wishing the days away until then.

He has said he will have some room for manoeuvre when the transfer window opens at the turn of the year, but until he is able to make more wholesale changes the manager can do little more than hope his squad are good enough to keep their heads above water in the SPL. At present, it seems that they manage to undo many of the positive things they achieve.

That was the case yesterday, when they equalised on the stroke of half-time, but failed to go on from there to impose themselves on Aberdeen in the second half. "I thought the goal was deserved for how the first half was played," Calderwood said.

"In the second half we had two or three very good half-chances, then from nowhere you don't really expect a goal against you. The goal has come from nowhere from our point of view, and that probably encapsulates what happens to us.

"We look as if we haven't got that genuine belief that we can only concede one goal and really have the idea that we won't concede any goals. We're really making it hard for ourselves to take points from games."

When it was suggested that Hogg in particular was making it hard for Hibs to take points, Calderwood defended the player and his fellow-centre-half Paul Hanlon. "It's not the defence - it's goals against," he said, implying that not only the back four had to take responsibility for preventing the loss of goals.

"The two centre-halves who played today have particularly well over the last few weeks in games and in training. So that was the reason they started."

Goalkeeper Mark Brown, who pulled off several fine saves to keep his team in contention, agreed with the manager that the problem ran throughout the team. "I don't think we're carrying much luck," he said. "But we can't make excuses - we're down there for a reason. It's more a team thing. You can't just look at the defence and say it's not playing well.You have to start defending from the front - harrying their defenders and not giving them easy possession.

"It's all areas of the pitch. You can't say we're happy with anything. At times we looked the better team. But it's results that matter."

Needless to say, Aberdeen manager Craig Brown was in an altogether more upbeat mood after victory in his first game in charge of his new club lifted them off the bottom of the table. "We got out of goal a few times," he accepted. "(Hibs] had a few palpable chances which they failed to convert. It could have been 5-4 or 5-5 on chances."

Having had a couple of weeks to assess his new squad, Brown does not seem to think he has the depth of problem facing Calderwood. Vital reinforcements, rather than a substantial turnover of players, are what is required at Pittodrie, he explained,

"We still want to add to the existing squad, which we think is good but very thin," said Brown. "We had six under-21s in that squad today, so we need players and we will seek players out in January. I'm not saying we'll get them, but we have to try to improve the size and if possible the quality of the squad."