Hibs insist there's no panic about losing top spot

Hibernian assistant head coach Garry Parker insists there is no crisis at Easter Road '“ even though he had been expecting more goals and more points.

Garry Parker thought Hibs would have more points by now but is confident theyll come if the clubs strikers can rediscover form. Picture: SNS

The Leith side were forced off the Championship summit by Dundee United last weekend after being held to a frustrating 1-1 draw with Raith Rovers.

A run of one victory in four outings, which includes a defeat at Tannadice, has left Neil Lennon’s side two points adrift of the top of the table ahead of the Hogmanay clash at Falkirk.

Hibs will start the new year with a visit of United and Parker insists no one at the club is panicking despite having to play catch-up for the first time in nearly three months.

He said: “You know you’re going to have ups and downs, you can’t play like we did at the start of the season all the time – it’s difficult. We’ve had a blip but now we need to put it right.

“We just do what we’ve been doing but try and do it a little bit better. There’s still a long way to go and it’s all to play for.

“I thought we would have had a few more points than we already have. The last few games have been a bit disappointing but we just need to keep going, knuckle down with hard work in training and put it right again. It’s a good club but we need to get out of this league – that’s our aim.

“It’s not a crisis, we’re second in the league and there’s a lot of games to go.

“It’s a big game on Saturday then we have Dundee United to come. It’s in our hands, they’re going to slip up as well but we just need to make sure that it’s us that are top of the league at the end of the day.”

Hibs were guilty of failing to take their chances in the Christmas Eve stalemate with Rovers, a problem that has plagued the team during their time in the Championship.

Parker insists the likes of Jason Cummings, Grant Holt and Martin Boyle need to quickly rediscover form in the final third.

He added: “The performance in the last game wasn’t too bad, we created lots of chances and if we had taken them we end up winning the game. We need to do better at taking our chances because we created so many and the game should have been out of sight. It’s about 
killing teams off.

“I’ve heard it’s been like this for a couple of seasons now; Hibs have been the better side, had chances and not taken them, and ended up being beaten.

“We’ve got to get over that, keep creating the chances and hopefully put them away.

“When they get chances, the strikers don’t mean to miss. The keeper [Kevin Cuthbert]the other day had a good game and made a lot of saves but they should be scoring goals at the end of the day and that’s what strikers are paid for.”

Hibs have Celtic playmaker Kris Commons on loan for at least three more matches and Parker admits it is imperative they get the Scotland cap up to speed following his opening two games.

He added: “It’s early days yet. After two games, you can see a bit of the sharpness is not there. Hopefully we can get him back to his best on Saturday. He’s got experience and he’s a goal threat. I don’t think he’s had many shots, a couple of chances at the weekend but he’ll be fine. If we get him in a position around the box, we know what he’s going to do.”

Parker, meanwhile, confirmed Hibs are running the rule over Sunderland left-back Tommy Robson with a view to recruiting the player.

But he refused to elaborate on whether the club would be looking to sign the 21-year-old on a loan or permanent deal.

He said: “We’ve had the lad here and he’ll be in until the end of the week. We had a game in training and we had a look at him.

“You can’t tell off one training session but he’s here for a few days so we’ll have a good look at him.”