Hibs' hopes stay alive: Easter Road side can still reach Europe, says Chris Hogg

HIBS CAPTAIN Chris Hogg is hoping that the promise of European football at Easter Road next season will go some way to soothing the pain of the midweek mayhem which saw his team go from being 6-2 up but eventually having to rely on Motherwell's inability to covert a penalty to avoid losing 6-7.

Almost shuddering at the memory of the Fir Park nightmare, two days after the event he was still struggling to come to terms with it but said that at least Hibs escaped with the point that keeps them in the hunt for a fourth-place finish and a place in next season's Europa League.

"I've never been involved in anything like that before and never want to be again," said the defender. "It was a crazy game to play in and I was lost for words afterwards. I was shell-shocked and even the next day I had a real feeling of embarrassment. It was a day of reflection to figure out what went wrong. To be honest, you never sleep after games anyway with the adrenaline. But there were so many things to think after Wednesday and my own personal pride was massively dented.

"I'm a proud guy and I don't like playing badly or seeing my team lose. I also felt sorry for the football club and the fans who travelled through."

The Hibs supporters, who have now seen their team win just twice in 17 games, were furious after the result and Hogg said he could understand why but he still believes the team can galvanise themselves today.

"For me it was freak game of football. I have never been involved in such an embarrassing game in all my life. I almost felt like every shot at goal was going in. Personally and for the football club I was embarrassed coming off the pitch. We need to make sure we are a lot tighter and better this weekend. Conceding six goals, man, it's not good enough. As a defender conceding one or two is not good enough."

The club now needs to hope that Rangers can take all three points against fourth-placed Motherwell this afternoon and they can squeeze at least a point from their own final day head-to-head with Dundee United at Tannadice.

"We are under no illusions how tough it will be. We know we need to tighten up at the back and not produce a performance like the other night. We've all got to take responsibility for it, I'll take massive responsibility for it as a player but everyone else also has to look at themselves – the manager and all the rest of the players. We need to figure out why it happened and not let it happen again.

"There were a few things said in the dressing-room after the game but I was shell-shocked. People were talking to me and I just wasn't registering what they were saying. But I'm determined I will never be in a game like that again. Games ebb and flow in different ways but we should never have been in a position to lose that game.

"I think there's a lot of character in the team but results like that are not helping our situation. I'm honest enough to sit here and say it's not good enough but there's no point dwelling on it.

"We are more than capable of taking the three points against United, we've just got to prove it."

But the one consolation is the fact they are still in there fighting for the right to proclaim themselves the fourth best team in the country when the curtain falls on the league campaign this afternoon.

"If you'd offered us that at the start of the season we would maybe have taken it," said Hogg. "I know we wanted third but we had to re-evaluate things and set our sights on fourth. The league table doesn't lie. Whoever finishes in fourth will deserve it."

Whoever finishes fifth in the SPL could still end up in the Europa League, but only if Dundee United United beat Ross County in next weekend's Scottish Cup final.