Hibs star lauded by rival over 'unbelievable' goal as penalty admission sent after Premier Sports Cup clash
Hibs were victorious in the Highlands over Ross County on Saturday.
Stuart Kettlewell admits he has no complaints over Ross County’s loss to Hibs - as he was left wowed by Thibault Klidje’s opener.
The striker sent a message to Easter Road head coach David Gray with an outstanding leap and header during Saturday’s 3-0 Premier Sports Cup quarter-final win over the League One title contenders. Akil Wright fouled Jason Kerr inside the box shortly after which Adam Mayor punished from the penalty spot before Ante Suto’s winner prior to half-time.
It brings some positivity back to Leith after bruising Premiership losses against Hearts and St Johnstone with a cup semi-final to look forward to over Halloween weekend. Kettlewell was impressed by the goal scored by Klidje and admits there are no complaints over the penalty that was awarded against his team either. The strike that irked him was the third Hibs goal, with his team left on the backfoot, as the visitors to Dingwall looked to pounce on their hosts’ defensive structure being left at sea. Hibs are next in Premiership action at home to Kilmarnock on Tuesday.
Ross County verdict on losing to Hibs in the Premier Sports Cup
Speaking on the game, County manager Kettlewell said: "We shot ourselves in the foot. We know they have got good players who don't need much encouragement. But the nature of the goals typified the whole tie. We can stop the cross at the first one, although it's an unbelievable header.
"The penalty was naïve from us, big Akil Wright doesn't often get caught in those positions. There's a block but only after he's pulled his jersey, so I won't sit and say it's not a penalty. The third goal is the one that really irked me. It goes against our principles of how we try to get the ball back, how we defend, areas we want to protect.
"All the players know it. You could see their body language as soon as we lost it. What it does is when everybody fancies there could be an upset, you just make life easy for a team like Hibs to get their tail up.
"So we need to take ownership of that, we can't blame refs, the opposition, conditions, the pitch or anything it's on us. The frustration for me is I believe we've shown that we're a better side than what we did in stages."
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