Pat Fenlon hoping Hibs learn from Dens Park defeat

PAT FENLON admitted Hibs were nowhere near good enough against Dundee but the manager believes Saturday’s 3-1 defeat could provide a vital lesson for his side as they bid to get their promising campaign back on track.

The Easter Road outfit travelled to Dens Park as league leaders but were convincingly beaten thanks to three goals inside the hour. Leigh Griffiths pulled one back in the dying seconds but it was far too little, too late. Fenlon now wants his players to view Saturday’s result as an example of what can happen when they don’t apply themselves properly.

He said: “We got what we deserved. We didn’t perform to the levels that we have done and, in fairness to Dundee, they played very well. We haven’t had a performance like that all season so it is difficult to be too critical of the players – they know that they let themselves down and they let the supporters down.

“Dundee worked harder than us and were first to a lot of the balls. We didn’t get to that level and we will have to analyse it to see why but we have got to take this one on the chin and move on. We saw on Saturday the reason that we have done well so far this season and that is hard work and graft because we didn’t have that against Dundee. They showed more enthusiasm than we did.”

The result aside, Fenlon admitted that their lack of effort was the most disappointing aspect. He added: “We were lucky to go in one goal down at half-time and we spoke about making sure that we started the second half properly but we didn’t and it was uphill from there.

“The players knew when they came off the pitch that they had been outbattled and that is disappointing, but it is not the end of the world for us.”