'Unprofessional!' - Hibs boss rails against fatal flaw as ex-Rangers and Hearts foe nets Motherwell winner

Basic inability to defend set pieces undermined every hint of progress gained by David Gray’s Hibs side as they pressed the self-destruct button in a sickening 2-1 home loss to Motherwell – leaving the rookie head coach railing against the ‘unprofessional’ streak in his team. And gaffer Gray lambasted red card flop Nectar Triantis for the “unacceptable” transgression of diving in to earn a second yellow card with the game finely balanced at 1-1.

Undone by a free-kick rolled into the box for Apostolos Stamatelopoulos to score the opener at Easter Road, the hosts got straight back into the contest through a Junior Hoilett strike. But the Triantis red card left Hibs undermanned as they failed to clear long throw-in specialist Kofi Balmer’s ball into the six-yard box, allowing former Rangers and Hearts midfielder Andy Halliday to silence his ‘admirers’ in the home crowd with a close-range finish.

Gray said: “That’s two set-pieces. Nearly every shot they had in the second half, I think it was four or five, all came as a result of the set-piece.

“Which in some situations is unprofessional - if it's just not doing your job. Whether it be not tracking your man or not showing that desire to make sure your opponent doesn't get in front of you.

“By switching off in these moments, these are big moments in the game. We knew that going into the game.”

Gray, who had spoken during the week about Balmer’s ability to cause “mayhem” in the opposition penalty area, said: “I don't know exactly the number, but at least 40 per cent of Motherwell's goals have come from set-pieces. As it is every week in this league.

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“We've been in the league long enough to know that set-pieces are huge at every level, but very much so in Scottish football. Motherwell carry a huge threat with that.

“We've worked on it all week. We're aware of the challenges they face with it. But we didn't defend them well enough.”

Revealing that Triantis had admitted to his mistake in picking up a second booking for a wild lunge at Tony Watt, having already been booked for a first-half dive, Gray said: “You can't do what he does in the second half, being on a yellow card. Regardless of what you get for the first one, whether he's looking for it, whether it's contact, that's all debatable. The issue is, when you're on a yellow card, you can't do what you do in the second half.

“You can't leave the ground, you can't jump in to attack, especially in that situation in the pitch. He wasn't going anywhere. From that moment, it's definitely cost us.

“Naturally, I think he knows he's made the mistake. I think you know that straight away. But it doesn't change anything. I think that's just one of these things he needs to learn from.

“As I've already touched on, when you're on a yellow card, you can't go to ground. Especially not in that situation.

“I understand that if you're the last man and you're trying your best to stop a clear, obvious goal scoring opportunity. But in that situation, it's just a lack of discipline and out of character for him, to be honest. But at the same time, he needs to learn from that - and we certainly can't accept that.”

Gray, who made it clear that players were at risk of losing their places all over the park, added: “We know we've created enough chances, clear-cut chances. Had we taken the chances in the first half for the level of dominance we had, today's a very different afternoon. We're sitting here talking about how good the squad's been and the things I talked about pre-match and all the improvements we've seen

.“The reality of the situation is that we've not got enough points or good enough results for the level that we're at. We know where we need to improve. Now we've got two weeks in this international break to think about all the areas in which we do need to improve and work as hard as we can to make sure we get that right. That's not just one person, that's everybody altogether.”