Hibs '˜letting Neil Lennon down' but critics '˜over-thinking' league position

Ryan Porteous has admitted he and his team-mates are letting boss Neil Lennon down as they allowed their winless run to stretch to five games.

Hibs defender Ryan Porteous challenges Dundee's Paul McGowan during the 2-2 draw at Easter Road. Pic: SNS

However, the Easter Road defender believes a packed December programme – in which the Capital club will play eight matches – gives them “a massive opportunity” to begin climbing the Premiership table.

Hibs sit seventh after surrendering a two-goal lead against basement outfit Dundee, although the 2-2 draw actually lifted them one place. Lennon’s team did, though, occupy second spot only five weeks ago.

However, the league is so tight that only eight points separate Hibs from that position currently held by Rangers with leaders Celtic a further two ahead, a situation which 19-year-old Porteous claimed was not irretrievable.

He said: “People are over-thinking it. Yes, no wins in five isn’t good enough but that is easily made up if we play well, stick to what we know and what the gaffer is telling us.

“I thought that the way we played against Dundee was, in general, okay. But when you are 2-0 up at home against a team that is at the bottom of the league then we should comfortably be seeing the game out.

“We are letting the gaffer down at the moment. I don’t know what he is thinking, but we are letting him down and we need to get back on track. He is doing is part. We need to do our part.

“Quite a lot is said about managers, but it’s players who win games and, with the quality we have, we should be winning games against teams like Dundee, especially when we are 2-0 up.”

On a day in which Hearts, Aberdeen and Livingston were beaten and the game between St Johnstone and Kilmarnock ended goalless, Porteous admitted the two points dropped at the weekend would have had an impact in that congested mid-table area.

But he said: “You can’t look at the league table too much just now. There’s a lot of games to play still, plenty of points still at stake. December is going to be a big month, the making of a lot of teams and, after that, we can probably look at the table and take it from there.

“However, it’s a massive opportunity to climb the table. We have to take it game by game and start picking up points again.”