Hibs boss ‘disgusted’ by performance as Hibs knocked out of League Cup by Queen of the South

Hibs boss Pat Fenlon today admitted he was “disgusted” by his team’s performance as they crashed out of the Scottish Communities League Cup at the hands of Second Division Queen of the South, branding the display “unacceptable”.

The Irishman had gone on record revealing his belief the Easter Road side could go all the way in the competition, yet instead they found themselves humiliated by first-half goals from Nicky Clark, the son of former Hearts striker and manager Sandy, and substitute Gavin Reilly.

Admitting the Palmerston Park outfit had been “better than us all round”, Fenlon said: “I’m disappointed and disgusted by that performance. We have let ourselves down and a fair few supporters who have travelled a long way. We did not treat it properly, we did not hit the tempo we should have.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“They worked harder and I thought they were very good. It’s about attitude and application when you come to places like this, teams in the lower divisions. If you do not apply yourselves properly then you get turned over.”

Having seen the mini-revival which has taken place over the past couple of weeks halted in dramatic fashion, Fenlon insisted complacency should not have been an issue, adamant his side – which showed four changes from the team which had defeated St Johnstone at the weekend – had been well warned beforehand. He said: “We gave them all the information that they needed but we were shocking all round. We didn’t pass it well enough, we did not clear our lines.Their centre-halves headed it 30 or 40 yards, we headed it down because we were under pressure from two centre-forwards but the way they applied themselves was the big thing for me.

“The players have worked hard over the past two or three weeks and in pre-season but they know that is not acceptable. The problem at this club for two or three years is that we have accepted things but we won’t accept that.”

The defeat, Fenlon insisted, underlined what he has been saying for a while now, that his squad is short in certain areas and with the transfer window shutting on Friday, he faces a race against time to bring in further new faces to add to the eight he has already signed.

And, he revealed, some of those who inflicted this defeat may find themselves at Easter Road in due course although it would be unlikely to happen over the next three days.

Fenlon said: “We’ve watched them twice already and there are one or two we like so we may be back to look at a couple more.”

Related topics: