Hibs boss in 'accountability' vow as Dundee injury-time sickener deals blow to Euro hopes in six-goal thriller
Manager left with ‘mixed emotions’ as Motherwell move seven points clear in race for fourth
David Gray insists there will be “accountability” within the squad after Hibs conceded an injury-time goal for the seventh time this season, as the visitors threw away a winning position in a six-goal thriller against Dundee at Dens Park. But the Easter Road gaffer insists he can still take positives from a 3-3 draw that saw Hibs battle back from 2-1 down with less than 20 minutes remaining.
Pleased to see Owen Elding, Jamie McGrath and substitute Ante Suto – again – hit the mark in a game where some serious defensive failings were exposed, Gray said: “Yeah, it's real mixed emotions to be honest for me. I think it feels like, because you lose a goal in the last second, like a defeat. I think that's natural because it is the last kick of the game.
“There's things I need to look at that are positive. The first bit of quality we actually showed in the game, we score and find ourselves 1-0 up.
“And then the next two goals we lose within the game were extremely poor, really, really poor goals. We allowed Dundee back into the game with a nothing ball over the top that should be dealt with, we didn't deal with it.
“And then the second goal was a second phase on a set piece, we just allowed someone to run into our box unopposed, which obviously isn't good enough.
“But then, the positive to that is, subs coming on and impacting the game, the players then showing brilliant character to go 2-1 down, what was it, 71 minutes or something, so 20 minutes to go in the game.
“To find a way to get back into it, to go 2-2, then to push and go 3-2.
“And then, as you've just touched on there, we've been in this position before where it's the last kick of the ball, we end up going home with a point, we're very close to getting three.
“Take nothing away from the strike that got Dundee the point, I thought it was a fantastic hit, I was right behind it, I knew as soon as he hit it he was going in.
“But, I think the story of the day for us is the fact that we've come to a really difficult place, we've scored tre goals, and we've had to score three goals to get a point because that's where we've let ourselves down, the defensive side of it.”
Easter Road side battled back to go ahead late
Failure to hold onto a 3-2 lead with just two minutes of the 90 remaining sees Hibs drop seven points behind fourth-placed Motherwell, who have a game in hand over their nearest rivals for the final guaranteed crack at European football. The fact that this was another late goal conceded is an area of concern for Gray.
Addressing the seven concessions in time added on over the course of a frustrating campaign, he said: “Well if it's as many as that then I think you can't avoid that. I would say about the one today, it is an unbelievable strike, there's not a lot you can do within that one.
“You can always affect it, I'm not saying there's nothing you can do. There's always things you can be done, situations to stop things happening earlier in the process.
“But, unfortunately the feeling we've got right now is that we've been in this position before. You think back to the derby, you think a couple of derbies, you look at losing late goals.
“And it's something we'll address, we'll look at it. But, the other side to that is if we had scored in the last minute and got a point, the feeling that comes with that.
“So I have to be careful that the players are very low because of the manner of losing that goal at the last minute. But there is accountability across the board to make sure that we learn from the experience and try and get better from it.”