Hibs lacked belief in Sky Sports Cup final - but we can compete, insists Shannon McGregor

Shannon McGregor admits Hibs ‘lacked belief’ in their Sky Sports Cup final defeat by Rangers.

Goals from former Hibee Lizzie Arnot and substitute Kirsty Howat secured a 2-0 victory for Malky Thomson’s side as they lifted the trophy for the first time in their history, with the seven-time winners unable to ask many questions of the Light Blues.

Howat also hit the bar while Benni Haaland was called into action to deny Brogan Hay, Tessel Middag, and Sam Kerr throughout the 90 minutes. Hibs’ best chance fell to Krystyna Freda who saw her powerful effort saved by Jenna Fife while Rosie Livingstone put in a wonderful cross in the first half with no takers in the box.

Speaking afterwards, a crestfallen McGregor branded the defeat ‘devastating’, adding: “Given the history this club has of winning cups, it was hard to take and I think it was maybe more difficult for those of us players who have been here a long time because the new girls don’t know that feeling of how many cups we’ve won as a team.

Shannon McGregor feels Hibs lacked belief in the Sky Sports Cup final

"We weren’t good enough and we can all admit that. The first half wasn’t good enough and that should have given us a bounce in the second but we couldn’t get that momentum and Rangers did really well to punish our mistakes.”

McGregor played in the semi-final victory over Glasgow City and insists Hibs need to channel that sort of performance more often, and prove that they are able to compete with the likes of Celtic and Rangers at the top end of the table.

"There’s always a positive in a defeat, and we need to bounce back from this and learn from our mistakes. I feel we didn’t have that belief that we’ve had before, for example in the semi-final [against Glasgow City],” she added.

"We need to have that belief, and believe that we can play against the top teams. We have got the ability as a team and as individual players, to compete with these players so we need to take that as a positive, look ahead to the next league game, and make sure we pick up the points.”