Darren McGregor believes Hibs recaptured lost pride with their battling display against Rangers after a no-holds-barred post-mortem on their weekend capitulation against St Johnstone.
The defender revealed the squad and coaching staff held an open and frank discussion on what went wrong in the 3-0 Betfred Cup defeat at Hampden – and admitted that going down so meekly was unacceptable.
The Easter Road side produced a much more resilient performance against the champions-elect, despite succumbing to an Alfredo Morelos goal just after half-time.
McGregor, who made his first league start in more than a year and was handed the armband, insisted the performance proved they’ve got over their second semi-final defeat of the season.
The centre-back said: “The boss said he wasn’t happy and he has made a point of saying it in the press sometimes as well.
“He will come in on the Monday and he might change the words he said at half-time or full-time. But he wanted to double down on that and said that it wasn’t good enough and in stages it was way, way below the bar that he sets.
“Having that conversation and the performance on Wednesday night shows everyone has taken heed of that. We spoke about the semi-final at the start of the week and our reaction sometimes, to conceding or in the face of adversity, isn’t what we would want.
“We had an open conversation about it and everyone said their piece and I thought you saw a reaction from that.
“Listen, myself and probably the fans who watch it won’t mind getting beat as long as you give your all and I think you saw that on Wednesday night.
“We’ve come away from the game with no points but I felt we were in a much better place than at the start of the week.
“It’s always frustrating when you come away with no points and I thought we were really good in spells.
“We had to be pragmatic with the pitch and play the game ugly and I thought we did that well.
“I feel bad for the groundsmen because they do their best and we keep talking as if it is their
fault. The Scottish weather doesn’t help. Listen, we just need to deal with it and it is the same for both teams.
“We had a game plan and we stuck to it and I thought we were unfortunate to come away with zero points. That was a shame but we know that Rangers are a very good team.”
Hibs have been involved in a battle with Aberdeen for third place for most of the season but are now looking over their shoulder at a Livingston side on an unbelievable unbeaten run of 12 matches – form that has hoisted the West Lothian outfit within five points of McGregor’s men with a game in hand.
He added: “We are definitely conscious of the teams round about us but I think we’ve got a good squad and we need to show that resilience more often than not.
“You will accept coming off the park having been defeated as long as you’ve given your all. If we play like that most weeks we’ll be fine.”
The former Rangers defender was involved in a flashpoint wrestling match with Glen Kamara that ended with McGregor receiving a yellow card for standing on the Ibrox midfielder’s calf as he lay on the ground.
But the Hibs stopper insisted nothing malicious had taken place. He said: “I thought for my first foul it was a bit harsh.
“But then some of the guys said they thought I was in WWE for a minute so maybe that’s why I got booked!”
Meanwhile, gaffer Ross admits Easter Road starlet Josh Doig is continuing to enhance his reputation amid speculation linking the full-back with interest from Celtic and the cream of English football.
The teenager is in his maiden season as a first-team player but has turned in a string of impressive displays.
Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Leeds are all said to have joined Celtic in monitoring the teenager’s progress.
Ross confessed earlier this week there had been “notes of interest” in young players at the club.
And after another accomplished performance in the loss to Rangers, the Hibs boss admits Doig is deserving of the admiring glances he is currently receiving.
Ross said: “He’s been terrific recently – he’s been terrific all season for an 18-year-old.
“It gets overlooked a little bit how young he is and how many games he’s played and the level of performances he’s produced against some top players. He’s getting better and better.
“The thing about Josh is I get to see the character of him and his mindset and approach to the game day in day out. He’s a real joy to work with in that regard. So I was delighted with him again.”
After the midweek defeat left Hibs with just one win from their last seven matches, Ross is optimistic of having key midfielder Joe Newell back for Saturday’s trip to face Dundee United.
He added: “Joe is getting a lot closer. He’s been a big player for us and hopefully he’ll put himself in contention for the weekend.”
