Rocky on road to improvement as he defends Hibs back four

Coaches spread responsibility for goal concessions

Hibs defender Rocky Bushiri believes it’s unfair to blame just the back four for goals conceded in a season of late collapses and mental lapses. And he says the Easter Road coaching staff agree that the entire team have to take responsibility for throwing away so many points.

Only Livingston, Ross County – today’s opponents in Dingwall – and Dundee have conceded more than Hibs in the Scottish Premiership season to date. Manager Nick Montgomery has regularly bemoaned the loss of late sickeners and soft counters since his arrival in September.

Bushiri said: “In football every goal comes from a mistake. It’s not fair to say it’s just because of the defenders. If you see the actions before it can come from anywhere on the pitch. It’s something we need to improve on, late goals but I’m sure we will work on it for the future.

“The coaching staff also try to take the pressure of the defence. Okay we are defenders but we’re also the first attackers for the way the gaffer wants to play. The responsibilities on the pitch are shared.”

The Democratic Republic of Congo international, a member of his country’s squad at this season’s Africa Cup of Nation, believes he’s improved thanks to the efforts of Montgomery and his assistants, revealing: “The coaching staff have been very good and I’m grateful towards them. They have put loads of attention on defensive details, I’m talking for me in specific meetings.

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“They’ve been like: ‘Don’t be happy too early, play one game but you need to repeat to be a good player at this level.’  It needs to be a habit.

“When I talk about details it means about giving penalties away, your body position in different situations, game management, when you need to go and take a card being a nasty player or when you need to slow down. I’ve had games where I’ve taken early cards, Hearts away, last weekend I took a yellow after ten minutes, but I managed to finish the game without any problems.

“It’s all repetition of things you do through the week and the psychology work you do with the gaffer and his staff. I’m between young and experienced because I have nearly played 50 games now and also in different leagues and in different positions.”

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Commenting on this weeks admissions of error in VAR decisions against Hibs, Bushiri said simply: “You know it when you rewatch it but it’s too late. “What do you want us to do? You can’t cry, we have a game on Saturday.”