Jack Ross has urged the Hibs board to sign him a new centre-back before the transfer window is out - and he also wants another striker now that Christian Doidge is on the sidelines.
Ross' team were exposed in their Conference League second leg with Croatia on Thursday. With Paul Hanlon injured, Darren McGregor's sending off meant that midfielder Alex Gogic had to partner Ryan Porteous at the heart of defence.
And the end result of that was a 4-1 defeat that ended their European hopes for another year.
Speaking after the game, Ross admitted he's been pushing the board to sign him a new central defender for a while - and he says the Rijeka defeat only further highlights the need for it.
“To be fair I have wanted a centre-half for a long time now, for this reason," he said after the game.
"With Paul’s injury and Darren’s sending off, the only recognised central defender we had left was young Jack Brydon and I felt it was unfair to throw him into that environment.
"So, it doesn’t accelerate our search, it just highlights the need for it. But it has not changed the thinking I have had for a long time that we need that cover and competition in those areas.”
Ross also had to do without Christian Doidge for the clash in Croatia after he picked up an injury in training.
The initial prognosis is that Hibs are expected to be without him for a while, leaving Kevin Nisbet and 22-year-old Jamie Gullan as their only recognised strikers.
Ross went on: “Just like centre-backs we know the areas we need depth and quality and we are pushing to do that. I think tonight brings to the forefront how quickly we need to do that.
“If Christian's injury is serious as we expect, then it’s a big blow and something we need to evolve the squad to deal with.”
