'Nervous and one-dimensional' - Hibs stalwart Lewis Stevenson speaks on 'bitter' Ross County defeat

Lewis Stevenson believes Hibs looked ‘one-dimensional and nervous’ during their 2-0 defeat by Ross County on Tuesday night.

The full-back was a 39th-minute replacement for Demetri Mitchell as Lee Johnson’s side fell to their fifth defeat in six matches. The victory allowed the Staggies to climb out of the relegation zone and leapfrog Kilmarnock, who host the Capital club on Saturday. Speaking afterwards the veteran defender admitted it had been a wretched showing.

“I don’t think our performances have been that bad in previous defeats but Tuesday night was totally different. They defended their box a lot better than we did and made it hard for us,” he began.

"It’s both boxes that make the difference in games and there was a lot that wasn’t good enough; simple things like passing, defending. I thought we looked a bit nervous, and were playing within ourselves, and Easter Road is not the place you can do that.”

Some players might be relishing Scottish football’s shutdown for the 2022 World Cup but the 34-year-old insists that’s the last thing he wants after a poor run of results for Hibs. He insists they have to rediscover the form that brought them a run of four consecutive wins.

“We want to win more games and pick up more points,” he said. “We have a tough game on Saturday. It’s a must-win for us, although Tuesday was a must-win as well. We need to get the season back going, we had a decent points tally. Before that, when I was watching the games the performances weren’t bad, but Tuesday was different.”

Like his manager Lee Johnson, Stevenson had no complaints about the jeering that soundtracked both the half-time and full-time whistles at Easter Road.

“I thought we ended up going a bit one-dimensional, we were just throwing balls in the box for the sake of it. As players we need to notice that at the time, there’s no point in talking about it after.

Lewis Stevenson fires in a cross against Ross County

"We need to try and change it up during the game. I’ll hold my hands up as an experienced player – maybe we need to get that across if things aren’t working.

"It’s a bitter one to take, not just because of the defeat. I don’t think we created any chances of note.”