Hibs Head Coach David Gray was left frustrated at Celtic’s ‘avoidable’ goals in his side’s 2-0 defeat on Sunday.
The champions dominated throughout at Easter Road after scoring twice in the opening 20 minutes of the game.
After the game Gray told Hibs TV: “It was a really frustrating start.
“You cannot give Celtic a goal head start after three minutes, especially when it’s avoidable from our point of view.
“Pre-match I spoke about us being brave on the ball, being aggressive with our press, and knowing that we can’t give Celtic time and space on the ball, and if you don’t get that right then you’ll be up against it.
“The real frustration from my point of view was that the goals we conceded were really avoidable.
“They came from individual mistakes and a lack of bravery and composure on the ball. Celtic got in their flow, and we rode our luck a little bit.
“The game could’ve got away from us, but we went in 2-0 down.
“We said what we said at half-time and the reaction from the players was better.
“We were braver on the ball and carried more of a threat, without really doing enough though. We know we need to improve on that front.
“This is the level of Scottish football, and the players need to learn from it quickly because we face it again in seven days’ time.”
Hibs travel to Parkhead to face Celtic in the Premier Sports Cup next weekend.
And Gray believes that his players can take a lot from Sunday’s game going into that one.
He added: “The players need to remember how it felt in the first half and how difficult it was for them for 45 minutes.
“The feeling from the second half was slightly different because they’ll have noticed they did have some success from having that bravery and courage to play.
“We will work on our game plan to ensure we give a better account of ourselves next week.”
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
