Why Hibs 'can't complain' about Celtic Park refereeing decisions after 'rough' outcome

Exasperation was entitled to frame Lewis Miller’s thoughts on the full-back’s first league start for Hibs.

Following an injury-hampered first season on Leith, the Australian and his team-mates stood up impressively to the might of Celtic in Glasgow’s east end on Saturday. Only for their manager Lee Johnson to be left despairing over the display of referee Steven McLean in the 3-1 defeat that owed much to contentious decisions, with Elie Youan dismissed early on for a questionable second booking before a disputed penalty allowed Ange Postecoglou’s men to equalise early in the second half. However, the 23-year-old wasn’t left with the same sense of bitterness as his manager over McLean’s crucial calls.

“At the end of the day, it is the ref’s decision,” said Miller. “He sees what he sees. We have got VAR to assist it as well so we can’t complain about it. Everyone gets emotional in the game, especially in a big game like that, first versus fourth. So obviously emotions were high. At the end of the day it is football. There are always going to be decisions that don’t go your way and some that do go your way. It’s football.

“The scoreline is kind of rough because I thought we were better than that. When we went down to 10 men all we wanted to do was try to hold them off. They were knocking on the door for as long as they could and eventually they got there with the set piece. That said, if you watch the game, I think we played very well. It is a positive sign that we are going in the right direction. Hopefully we can go on to the next game, get three points and work our way to Europe.”

Hibs defender Lewis Miller challenges Celtic's Jota during the match in Glasgow. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

Yet Miller’s mindset is such that until three points are being bagged against Celtic, and Rangers - the only two teams to beat them in the league in the past 10 weeks - ultimately the Easter Road side are falling short. “We expect to win every game,” he said. “On our day, in my opinion, we can beat any team. Obviously Celtic and Rangers are going to be a bit tougher. But you have to forget about all these big names. Forget about Celtic, forget about Rangers, just focus on the game. It is tough because they win a lot. But they lose sometimes so we just fight.”