Pundit names possible Hibs defensive remedy from within as Scott Allan spots something about backline

The Hibs head coach watched on as his side were put to the sword. | SNS Group

Hibs were knocked out of the Premier Sports Cup after a 3-1 defeat to Celtic.

Celtic made it back-to-back victories over Hibs at the weekend when they eliminated David Gray’s side from the Premier Sports Cup, following their Scottish Premiership win the weekend prior.

The Cup exit has left the Hibs manager ‘angry, disappointed and frustrated’. The Hibees have already signed a bulk of new players this summer but their latest result has highlighted the need for further reinforcements, with Gray commenting: “I can't keep picking the same players that keep making mistakes all the time.”

Hibs now look ahead to their return to the league, where they will face Dundee at Easter Road. The Edinburgh outfit will hope to bank their first points of the season, having lost their opening two fixtures against St Mirren and Celtic. The Hibees are currently 11th in the table, ahead of Kilmarnock only on goal difference.

Following their exit from the Premier Sports Cup, former Hibs midfielder Scott Allan admitted his old side looked uncomfortable defensively during their visit to Parkhead.

He told Sportsound: “Hibs constantly are masters of their own downfall. Sometimes in a game maybe you look for your captain or the experienced players like Martin Boyle who have been here a long time to say 'listen, squeeze us up and play in Celtic's half and work off second balls.' It might not always be nice to watch but you are taking the danger away. The Hibs defence did not look comfortable playing out from the back the whole game.”

Ex-Celtic and Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Pat Bonner echoed similar to Gray, focusing on the mistakes Hibs have been making.

“You can make mistakes, everybody makes mistakes, but you can't keep making the same mistake all the time. Otherwise you find yourself out the team,” he said.

“[Marvin] Ekpiteta was taken off in the second half and I wonder if that was going through David Gray's mind. Will [Rocky] Bushiri be the one, he goes back to him and get him into the team and give him a bit of a run? They can't keep making those mistakes.”