Jack Ross owns up to mistake that saw his Hibs side lose their impetus against St Johnstone

Jack Ross was frustrated with elements of a Hibs display that cost them all three points against St Johnstone – but he admitted he did not help the cause with a mid-game switch which saw Jamie Murphy temporarily moved inside.

Hibs manager Jack Ross with his assistant John Potter during Tuesday night's draw with St Johnstone at Easter Road. Photo by Ross Parker/SNS Group

The team moved back to third spot in the Premiership courtesy of the draw against Callum Davidson’s Perth side, but the Hibs gaffer believes the outcome could have been even better.

In a display that was, at times, sloppy and lacklustre by their standards, the Leith outfit went behind twice. Each time they responded positively to ensure a share of the spoils but in chasing a victory, Ross concedes he made an error of judgement.

“I probably made a mistake in how the system changed,” said Ross. “Getting Christian Doidge on was the right thing but Jamie [Murphy] being more central, we lost him from the game for 10 to 15 minutes. That is my responsibility because when we got him back into the wider areas he was very good, as he had been for the bulk of the game.”

Having stayed loyal to the players who had come within minutes of a triumph over defending champions Celtic at the weekend, the Hibs boss had left the fit-again Doidge on the bench, opting to again play Kevin Nisbet up front on his own.

Eventually sending the Welsh striker on in the 56th minute, to bolster the attacking options, he sacrificed defensive midfielder Alex Gogic and tweaked the line-up, moving winger Murphy into a more central role off the main strike duo.

But that diluted the threat posed by the on-loan Rangers attacker, who had been getting down the left flank and carving out opportunities. Recognising that, Ross switched him back to the wing, confessing that the initial adjustment was an error on his part.

“That was my mistake, and I said that to the players,” said Ross, in an honest assessment of events. “I make mistakes at times and I am quite happy to admit them to the players and publicly, and for that wee spell in the game I thought we lost our impetus. But credit to the players, we got it back and in the closing stages we were a threat.”

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