Ex-Hearts and Hibs star laments 'missed opportunity' for Jack Ross' side in Europe

Michael Stewart believes Hibs missed a ‘real opportunity’ to advance to the play-off round of the Europa Conference League following Thursday night’s loss to Rijeka.

Michael Stewart played for both Hibs and Hearts in his career. Picture: SNS

The tie was in the balance after Kyle Magennis levelled the match in Croatia and brought the score to 2-2 on aggregate.

However, Darren McGregor was sent off for a second bookable offence and the away side soon collapsed, conceding two quick goals en route to a 4-1 away defeat.

Stewart, a former Hibs midfielder and Hearts captain, tweeted on Friday: “Hibs will be bitter disappointed this morning at a real missed opportunity. The Rijeka game had nothing in it and they’d just gained the momentum when Darren McGregor got sent off.

“I’m not going to criticise McGregor too much though because I think he’s got more than enough credit in the bank. He made huge mistake and he knows that. I do think this team will have another opportunity soon to learn from this and look to progress further.”

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