Easter Road has become 'like a morgue' claims former Hibs striker

Graham shocked by atmosphere at old ground
Brian Graham, right, made it 2-1Brian Graham, right, made it 2-1
Brian Graham, right, made it 2-1

Former Hibs striker Brian Graham has claimed the capital side’s horrendous run of form has turned Easter Road into a morgue.

Graham revealed that he and his Ross County team-mates sensed the ill-feeling which has descended upon his old club the minute they walked out to warm-up.

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And their hunch paid off, the Staggies coming from behind to snatch a last-minute equaliser despite having fallen two behind to quick-fire goals from Daryl Horgan and Scott Allan early in the second half.

But the Dingwall outfit, still reeling from a 6-0 hammering at Celtic Park a week earlier, fought back to condemn Paul Heckingbottom’s players to a ninth match without a win, Graham kicking off their revival before fellow substitute Joe Chalmers drilled home a last-minute equaliser.

It was a result which sees Hibs only a point off bottom place in the Premiership table and one which provoked calls for Heckingbottom to be sacked by the home fans.

“I think we all knew,” said Graham of the pressure building on the Yorkshireman and his players. “In the warm-up it was like a morgue and it’s not usually like that at Easter Road.

“I think the feeling about the place isn’t nice at the moment. They’ve not won in nine games and the fans demand more because they’re a big club.

“We’re a smaller club, let’s not kid ourselves, and we’ve got to feed off that. I think it worked once we got the first goal and we grew into the game a bit more.

“Going 2-0 down quickly after half-time it could have gone the other way like last week.

“We could have crumbled but I don’t think that’s the nature of the boys in our dressing room. When we got the first one I think they sat back a wee bit and the fans got on their backs.

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“It was a good ball in from Sean (Kelly) so I thought why not try and take a touch and turn and have a go and it paid off.

“They were under a wee bit of pressure and we played off it.”

And Graham, who missed a gilt-edged chance to equalise only seconds after he’d scored, claimed the Staggies could even have gone on to win the match.

“If that had gone in we might have won it. But to have gone 2-0 down at a place like Easter Road, it’s a good result.”