Hibs were miles off it against Motherwell but still have quality to fight for Europe, insists Jimmy Jeggo

Questions were also asked of the 38-year-old’s positioning for the third goal, also scored by van Veen, from a 25-yard free kick. With trialist ‘keeper Maksymilian Boruc watching on from the stands, the veteran shot-stopper had an afternoon to forget despite making a couple of good saves to deny ‘Well in the first half.

Speaking afterwards Jeggo said: “I think one thing we have here is a really honest group. Players know when they haven’t played well. There are always discussions after games and there were things said, and that’s the way it should be. There were a lot of players today, myself included, who were miles away from where they should be.

"You can lose games when you play well and things just go against you. But on Saturday we were miles off it individually and as a team. We really let ourselves down. Three points would have been a really big step for us.”

Jimmy Jeggo, right, and Will Fish look dejected at the final whistle on Saturday

Hibs face a trip to basement club Dundee United next Sunday, needing three points to keep alive their hopes of finishing in the European places, but are having to look over their shoulder as well as up the table, with Livingston a point behind and St Mirren up to fifth after defeating the West Lothian outfit at the weekend. Jeggo insists Hibs have the quality to challenge for continental competition after last season’s disappointing eighth-place finish.

“It’s very tight so we can’t caught up on what the other teams are doing, it’s about what we do,” he continued. “We know that when we play to our strengths then we can be right in the mix. That needs to be our focus first and foremost. We know it could go either way for a lot of teams, but we know that we’re good enough to make sure we’re in that top six and if we get there we can be challenging for Europe. That doesn’t change on the back of Saturday, but that performance can’t happen again if we want to achieve what we want to.”