Michael Weir: Hibs still need to recruit and here’s why

Hibernian's Melker Hallberg and Aberdeen's Lewis Ferguson during Sunday's match at Easter Road. (Photo by Mark Scates / SNS Group)

Sunday showed that Hibs have still got a bit to go to get to the level of Aberdeen.

The difference is that Aberdeen have got the nous to win these games. Derek McInnes has been there a long time and built a decent squad of players. If you look at his bench, he had very strong options to come on. That's the level we need to get to to challenge these sides.

Once they got in front they knew how to win the game. They looked like a team that was solid and who have been successful at this level for a wee while now while we're a team that's still trying to find our way.

Hibs definitely have to get players in, there's no doubt about that. If you look at the squad we're very light in certain areas of the pitch. I think attacking-wise we're looking not too bad, but we still need to bring new faces in. I think the manager knows that, and has tried to address it.

The difference was they had players in midfield who could get up and beyond the strikers, and we've not got that at the moment. We've got players who are just sitting behind the ball - protective players - but we need something more threatening from the middle of the pitch. I don't think we have a threat from midfield and if you want to be successful at this level of football you need to have goals from all areas of the pitch.

There's a lot of Hibs players who, to me, are still not quite there yet in terms of match fitness. Hopefully that comes. Sunday was a test to see where we are, and for me, we've still got a long way to go to get to the calibre of players they've got and the squad they've got. That's the difference and what we need to get to.

To see Ross McCorie play so well for them made it all the more frustrating to miss out on him. Their middle of the pitch is much stronger. They're dynamic, they can get in the box and score you a goal, and they've got running power. The gulf in physicality between the two sides was also quite large for me. Aberdeen are a big physical side and if you don't match that you're in trouble. Aberdeen have a better squad but Derek McInnes has had a bit of time to build that and we're hoping to get to that level.

I don't feel as though Hibs have ever replaced John McGinn, although players like that are hard to come by. When you lose a player like that it will always take a wee while to replace him. Hopefully we can unearth another one like that because that drive and determination from the middle of the pitch is what we need. The manager at Aberdeen has had time to do that. Time to build a base and the club he wants. That's hopefully what Jack can do at Hibs.

There were positives, especially in the way we started, and to be fair we missed a few chances in the first half and should've been up. But you've got to take the chances when they come along and we snatched at them. A wee bit of composure up the top end of the pitch early on and it could've been a different game.

Goals change games and once Aberdeen got in front they sat in and made it hard for us and knew how to get through the game. They made us pass it across the pitch and we weren't penetrating enough. In the second half there was only one good chance I can remember, but you've got to give Aberdeen credit as well. They know how to win these games, and that's through a long time of being in the league with a manager who has built a decent squad.

Jamie Murphy looks to be a good deal for Hibs. He's got good experience and if they can get him playing and keep him fit then he's definitely got something to give.

There's still one or two of them that have got a bit to come. Drey Wright to me still looks as though he's needing games but you can see there's flashes of ability there it's just getting him 100 per cent fit.

We've still got Kevin Nisbet to come back as well, so we've got good threat from certain areas of the pitch, but I think it's glaring we need something up front with Christian Doidge. We need a foil for him. Nisbet might be that one through time, we don't know. But Doidge looks like he's up there on his own at the minute and we need somebody with him, and we definitely need a more potent threat from the middle of the pitch. That needs to come quickly because we can't keep trying to defend games all the time.

Sunday showed we've still got a wee bit to go to reach the standard we need to get into Europe. But there's still a long season to go and hopefully we can recruit, get all our players back to full fitness, and push on again.

It's a bad result but it's not the be all and end all. We just need to keep going, try to get back on the rails, and get a result next week.