Hibs head coach David Gray was left “hugely frustrated” after yesterday’s 2-1 defeat against champions Celtic at Easter Road.
Hibs started the game brightly but two Celtic goals in two minutes meant the team had a lot of work to do.
The hosts created a number of chances, and pulled a goal back through a Martin Boyle penalty, but were unable to find an equaliser.
When speaking after the game, Gray said:”“I am hugely frustrated that we’ve lost the game. I thought we started the game well and did everything I asked the players to do; we were on the front-foot and were aggressive. That was the reaction I wanted from Tuesday night.
“We found ourselves 2-0 down; the first goal is a mistake which happens in games of football, and then we lost another goal straight away. Giving Celtic a 2-0 head start makes it extremely difficult. We needed half-time after that.
“The second half I got another reaction again and I can’t fault the players because they kept going until the very end. We scored a goal, created the best chances, and deserved to get something out of the game.
“It’s a difficult result to take because of what the players put in today. It’s certainly a different feeling from Tuesday night because this performance was much more like us.
“I will never accept losing games of football, absolutely not, but we had big chances in the game, so that’s why it’s frustrating.”
It’s been fine margins for Hibs throughout the 2025/26 campaign, being punished for mistakes and not taking advantage of big opportunities when they come their way.
“We’ve had this conversation quite a few times this season,” admitted Gray.
“I probably sound repetitive when I say I’d be more frustrated if we didn’t create those chances. We had a big chance at 0-0 early on, and when you are on top against Celtic you have to take them.
“When we were 2-0 down it would’ve been easy for our players to just roll over but we didn’t do that. Second half the reaction was good, and we created big chances again. We were the only team in the ascendancy in that second half and the one that looked like going on to score.
“Apart from the two goals Celtic scored, we restricted them to next to nothing, which shows the level of performance from our players.
“This is the first time we’ve lost back-to-back games in over a year, and I’ve just spoken to the players about that. It’s a reflection of how well we’ve done over the past year, but I also reminded them to stick together.
“We need to get back on the training pitch and work together to turn it around.”
