Hibs go down 4-1 but manager insists defeat is 'good experience'

COLIN Calderwood last night attempted to put a positive spin on Hibs' 4-1 defeat at Kilmarnock, insisting it was a "good experience" for his players which left him with no cause for concern.

The Hibs manager's curious assessment of what was his 20th defeat in 35 games in charge of the Easter Road club is unlikely to strike a chord with their supporters who witnessed an often shambolic defensive display at Rugby Park.

Paul Heffernan scored twice on his first starting appearance for Kilmarnock who recorded their first win since March and the first under the management of Kenny Shiels. Garry O'Connor's second goal in as many SPL games provided a crumb of comfort for Hibs as it cancelled out Heffernan's opener but the margin of defeat could easily have been even heavier as Calderwood's team simply disintegrated at the back in the second half.

Hibs chairman Rod Petrie, whose selective use of statistics raised eyebrows earlier this year when he responded to efforts by Nottingham Forest and Birmingham City to recruit Calderwood as assistant manager, cannot have failed to note that his team have now lost seven of their last nine SPL fixtures.

Some of the manager's comments may provide as much cause for alarm among Hibs supporters as their team's defending. Calderwood was defiant in the face of suggestions that the defeat left him with significant problems to contend with.

"It's nothing to worry about," claimed Calderwood. "It's normal practice. You've got to work. I understand the group of players and their personalities. You know they are going to ebb and flow. But we all ebbed at one point today. There were too many going in one direction. Too many had a bad day and that accumulated. We didn't play well but we were competitive in the game until Kilmarnock's third goal.

"The last half hour was hurtful to watch. I understand that. But I think it's a terrific lesson. It was good experience and we have to take it right on the chin, because what we produced today was nowhere near good enough."

Paul Hanlon's own goal restored Kilmarnock's lead four minutes from half-time before further strikes from the outstanding James Dayton and Heffernan saw the home side run out comfortable winners.

Pressed on whether the capitulation of his team in the final half hour, when they were fortunate not to concede more goals than they did, had been alarming, Calderwood remained stoic.

"No," he said. "That happens. They were trying their best and giving everything but nothing was going for them. Everything evaporates in terms of energy and things going right. We were struggling to go back to the basics. We didn't do that then and we probably didn't do that well enough in the first 60 minutes either.

"We just looked as if we could concede at any point. We were in the game (at 1-1] and I didn't see Kilmarnock scoring before half-time. In fact, they didn't. We scored (an own goal]. That didn't help and was always going to make the second half difficult.

"But we were still very much in the game before giving a free-kick away in what should have been a very defendable situation. That caused the third goal and that was the step too far for us."Calderwood resisted the invitation to blame the defeat on his quest to integrate new faces into his team. Isaiah Osbourne and Junior Agogo made their debuts as half-time substitutes yesterday, while Phil Airey also tasted his first action in a Hibs shirt for the final 20 minutes.

"We will only know in the future (if there were any positives to come out of today]," mused Calderwood. "You take your medicine and try to learn from it. There was nothing on display today but what happens in the future might be a very good thing for us."