Hughes must find the answer for Hibs

JOHN HUGHES has acknowledged his side are being asked some searching questions as they hit the final straight. But the Hibs boss desperately needs answers as a season which only a few weeks ago was promising so much appears to be starting to come apart at the seams.

One win in eight matches, seven of them in the SPL from which only five points have been amassed, has seen Hibs not only slip from third to fifth in the league table but having to endure a lengthy and problematical trip to Dingwall tomorrow night if they are to keep their Scottish Cup dream alive for at least another few weeks.

Has a team which, on the back of a run of 12 games unbeaten, appeared certain of that coveted third-place finish and with it European football next season suddenly hit the skids or were those balmy days simply Hibs punching above their weight and recent events a more realistic reflection of their capabilities?

Were expectations raised to an unsustainable level thanks to a sparkling opening third of the season which brought a rich reward of 21 points, a total matched in the second batch of 11 matches and recent events little more than a blip, a bit more pro-longed than could have been hoped for but, nevertheless, a temporary aberration?

Perhaps it's a case of opposition teams having worked out what Hibs are all about, a side capable of playing an entertaining passing game when allowed to do so but one which can be bullied out of a match by more physically robust opponents dedicated to a more direct approach?

Or is it down to bad luck, the good fortune which had blessed Hibs earlier in the season having deserted them as witnessed by the bizarre own goal against Ross County and the nature of Hearts opener in this one, Suso Santana's deflected cross fooling goalkeeper Graham Stack by smacking off the post and into the path of a grateful Andy Driver.

More likely, it's a combination of all of the above allied to an understandable dip in confidence, that fickle inner belief which soars when things are going well and drops when nothing seems to go right despite each individual's best endeavours.

The bottom line, however, is that Hughes' players have hit something of a slump at just the wrong time, what those in the game call the "business end"

of the season when the destination of the silverware, championship flags and European places are determined.

Hughes, who won't omit himself from the closest of scrutiny as he seeks the positive reaction necessary, however, was quick to highlight the fact that despite what has happened over the course of the past seven weeks, his side remain very much in the hunt for third place, just two points behind Dundee United, and still, luckily, with that chance of progressing in the Scottish Cup with that replay against Ross County.

The Hibs boss said: "There are so many clubs in Scotland who would give their right arm to be where we are right at this moment. We are coming down to the business end and we are where we want to be, in there fighting for that European spot and still in the Scottish Cup although I don't know what the outcome will be."

While in real terms defeat by Hearts did little to further dent Hibs' European hopes thanks to Aberdeen's fightback to hold Dundee United to a draw, going down to your closest rivals hurts much more deeply than any scoreline can suggest, but Hughes declared it was one his side simply had to "take on the chin."

He said: "What do we do, do we feel sorry for ourselves or come out fighting. If these boys give me what they have given me since day one, they've given me everything they have, and come out fighting them we will win games. Where it takes us no-one knows but hopefully it will be success.

"I'm looking for big characters to give me the answers I am looking for and hopefully they are positive."

Having said that, Hughes knows the margin for error is decreasing with every passing match, tomorrow night's clash in the Highlands critical not only to keeping the Scottish Cup dream alive but helping restore that badly battered morale which could have been even more severely eroded had Hearts taken the opportunities which led Jambos boss Jim Jefferies, who had good reason to enjoy his first Edinburgh derby since that 6-2 thrashing ten years ago, to declare had the Gorgie side scored four or five they would not have been flattered.

Injury-ravaged Hearts most certainly deserved their victory, Jefferies having gambled in reintroducing Driver, Ian Black and Ruben Palazuelos despite their lack of match fitness, while Hibs, too suffered from the absence of skipper Chris Hogg who failed a fitness test on the morning of the game forcing a total reshuffle of Hughes' backline, and, again, the creativity of Merouane Zemmama in the middle of the park.

There was, however, little in the opening minutes to suggest other than a dour derby, one which even early on appeared destined to end in stalemate as the previous two this season had done until Santana swung in that cross and Hearts enjoyed a lucky break.

They quickly took advantage, Eggert Jonsson outmuscling Kevin McBride – although, in the estimation of Ian Murray his team-mate had been barged in the back – to reach Driver's corner three minutes later, Gary Glen popping up just three yards out to apply the finishing touch, a goal which would have met with the approval of John Robertson who had spent part of derby week coaching his old club's strikers.

It was, as Murray, admitted, a hammer blow for Hibs. He said: "The first one was a touch bizarre, the ball coming off the post the way it did after taking a slight deflection, but to lose a second so quickly was a killer. I felt we were comfortable and possibly the better side, Hearts must have been delighted."

Things could have gone from bad to worse for Hibs, every corner or free-kick into their penalty area spelling danger with John Rankin taking a Jonsson header off the line and David Obua, who caused the visitors all sorts of problems with his height, pace and movement, nodding over.

And Hughes' players were forced to grimly hang on at the start of the second half, Santana somehow contriving to knock the ball over from a yard out before Glen, with Lewis Stevenson in hot pursuit, raced clear only to run the ball out. Stack pushed away a Glen header and Driver beat the goalkeeper only to see Stevenson clear his shot off the line as Hearts threatened to run riot.

As so often happens in such games, though, Hearts ended up living on their nerves, Derek Riordan sweeping the ball home after David Wotherspoon's low cross had eluded a forest of legs. Eleven minutes to go, a lifeline but one Hibs were unable to take, Ryan Stevenson almost adding to Hearts lead in the dying minutes with a low shot pushed away by Stack.

Murray said: "Hearts came out flying at the start of the second half looking for that third goal that would have killed the game. But we knew if we could get a goal we'd have a chance, that Hearts and their fans would become edgy. Had we got it ten or 15 minutes earlier who knows what might have happened but as it was, it was too little, too late."

That's a phrase Hughes will be hoping he doesn't hear again between now and the end of the season.