Warren O’Hora says the manner of Hibs’ UEFA Conference League Play-Off defeat to KAA Gent made the result a particularly difficult one to take.
After Josué Vergara’s first-half effort, Hibs were leading thanks to goals from Jason Kerr and Felix Passlack and were six minutes away from qualification for the league phases of Europe for the first time.
But Christian Burgess struck with a header in the 84th minute to level before Miguel Chaiwa’s attempted clearance flew past keeper Raphael Sallinger in stoppage-time to condemn the side to a cruel defeat.
“It’s heartbreaking for us as players, heartbreaking for the fans and everyone involved with the Club,” O’Hora told Hibs TV after the final whistle.
“We knew what was riding on this game, and the manner in which it went was – football is cruel sometimes.
“But I can’t fault the lads for their effort, and I can’t fault the fans for not getting behind us.
“I think everybody to their man was brilliant tonight, and we got done by a set-piece, which is horrible and always will be, and the third goal is a breakaway, which happens in football.
“There are areas where we can be better, but right now, it’s tough for us to take.
“I don’t think there was much in the first half at all.
“I have to credit the Head Coach and the staff for the way the half-time went, and you could see that in the performance, the belief that he gave us to go after them, to bring the game to them, to be more aggressive, more front-foot, and you could see that in the second half.
“The performance in the second half, and in the whole game, I don’t think it deserved to end the way the game ended.
“But look, football is like that, and sometimes you don’t get what you deserve, and it’s a hard one for us to take.
“Sometimes you can accept losing goals if it’s a good bit of play, or a wonder strike, or something like that.
“But especially me, as a defender, the set-piece is a big responsibility of mine, and I have a big part to play in them, so there are areas where I’ve got to look back and think I can do better, of course, and everybody will be doing the same.
“But to lose the goals in that manner is horrible, and they’ll keep us up at night.
“It wasn’t a bad performance, and it was just the big moments that went against us.
“We need to pick ourselves up, we need to dust ourselves off, and we’ll let this sink in, as it’s quite raw right now.”
O’Hora believes the players need to use the pain of the defeat as motivation to come back stronger, and that starts at Dundee in the William Hill Premiership on Sunday.
He added: “It was our sixth game in the competition, but it’s exactly where this Club should be, and it should be more.
“We should be in the group stages for the way this Club is, for the targets we set, and for the work we put in, and we’re devastated.
“It’s the second year running, and last year was hard to take, but this one’s definitely hard as well.
“I can say we’re stepping in the right direction, but I felt like we had a right chance today, and we just let it slip through our fingers.
“The beauty of football is there’s a game coming around the corner, especially when you’re in competitions like this.
“It’s exactly why we have the squad the way we have it, and everybody is available to play.
“Everybody knows what’s at stake for this Club, and we want to be in this competition again.
“So for that to happen, we need to concentrate on Sunday.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure a lot of us will be losing some sleep tonight over this, but come tomorrow, it’s a case of dust yourself off and get ready for a tough test away to Dundee.”
