Jim Goodwin in honest verdict about dangerous Hibs as Dundee United caught napping by four deadly factors

Hibs returned to winning ways in fine fashion on Saturday as they saw off European rivals Dundee United 3-1 at Easter Road.

After suffering a rare defeat at Aberdeen last weekend, David Gray’s men showed no ill-effects of their loss at Pittodrie as they made they made the perfect start with an early goal from Martin Boyle. Mykola Kukharevych doubled the lead on the quarter-hour mark and that two-goal advantage remained in place until the early stages of the second-half when Kristijan Trapanovski got the visitors back into the game.

The result remained in doubt until the final minutes of the game when former Newcastle United striker Dwight Gayle added a third goal for Gray’s side as Hibs took full advantage of Aberdeen’s defeat at St Mirren to move three points clear in third place in the table.

The defeat was a major blow for the visitors as it now means the Terrors sit six points adrift of Hibs - but manager Jim Goodwin insisted his side are ‘very much still in the fight’ to secure a place in European competition.

He said: "I thought Hibs were the better team, I thought they looked sharper, had more energy, more athleticism, more pace at the top end of the pitch and they're just a really, really dangerous team on the counter-attack. It's disappointing, given what's at stake at this point in the season, but it wasn't down to lack of effort or commitment on the players' part.

“That's not what I'm trying to say. Sometimes you get beaten by the better team. I think if you look at the players that Hibs have got individually across the board, they were better than us. But we're very much still in the fight.”

“Today was a reality check”

Hibs forward Martin Boyle celebrates after opening the scoring in the 3-1 win over Dundee United. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group) | SNS Group

Despite his positive outlook over his side’s European prospects, former St Mirren and Aberdeen boss Goodwin did stress his players must use the result as a ‘reality check’ and an indicator of the standards they must hit if they want to land a top four place before the season comes to a close later this month.

“I'm not going to sit here now as manager and start throwing my players under the bus because they have been fantastic for me. I said that to them down in the dressing room. Results like today are hugely disappointing because we believed coming into the game that we could get a positive result. We knew it was going to be difficult because of Hibs' form, so we know how good a team they are. I just think today was a reality check in terms of where we need to get our levels to, in terms of that energy and that pace.”

Your next Hibs read: Why BOTH Hibs gaffers deserve top awards - even if Brendan Rodgers leads Celtic to Treble glory