Hibs manager Jack Ross refuses to slam players after shock Ross County defeat - but he wants a reaction

In a season where defeats have been few and far between, Hibs manager Jack Ross said he did not want to be too harsh on his players who served up just their fifth loss of the season against Ross County.

Ross County's Oli Shaw celebrates after scoring against his former club to wrap up a 2-0 victory over Hibs at Easter Road. Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group

However, he does expect a positive reaction when they return to action, against Livingston, on Saturday.

“I don’t want to lambast the players because they have been very good for me and I have a lot of faith and trust in them,” said Ross after his team lost 2-0 to the Staggies.

“We did not play well enough to win the game, which is unlike us this season and a lot of the players were below the levels they have been at, but that happens in football. It’s disappointing because we don’t want it to happen, but the reaction now is the most important thing for us.

“I don’t want to be dismissive of it because it is a disappointing night, but given what we’ve done this season, I think it’s one to move on from and look for a reaction.

“We can’t do anything about tonight but we can affect Saturday and that has to be our focus now. The good thing is that our reaction to any disappointment this season has been good.”

Two goals, one in each half, gave the Highland side victory against a Hibs side who look jaded, perhaps sapped of their usual verve by the unrelenting schedule and the intensity of their Boxing Day performance against Premiership leaders Rangers. But Ross put it down to a bad day at the office for too many of his men.

“I don’t want to point to anything as being an excuse. Ross County were good with what they did within the game and we huffed and puffed a lot. We were just a little bit off all aspects of our game, how close we got to people, our energy levels, our creative spark; we just looked off it.

“The start of the game was encouraging but I think we got spooked by losing the goal and lost our way a bit. In the second half, although we were a little bit better, it just looked like one of those nights for us in terms of scoring.”

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