Ron Gordon admits Hibs 'made a boo-boo' over fielding of ineligible player

The chances of Lee Johnson’s side progressing were already slim after a 1-1 draw with Greenock Morton on Wednesday evening (and losing out on the bonus point on penalties) left them needing Clyde to win away at Falkirk.

Any remaining optimism was soon vanquished, however, after it emerged Rocky Bushiri was erroneously selected for the fixture despite being suspended following bookings in each of the two previous games.

After an SPFL hearing it was decided to award the match 3-0 to Morton along with a £5,000 fine (£4,000 suspended) for the Easter Road club. The fiasco knocked Hibs out of the tournament in the first round and added to an inauspicious start to the new campaign.

Speaking to Hibs podcasters in a Q&A on YouTube, Gordon admitted it was a mistake on the club’s part.

"The ops department made a boo-boo. Something fell through the cracks. It's a bit of a shame,” he said. We are rectifying it. I look at the improvements we have made and that's one area where we have upgraded.

"Our ops department is better but in this particular case they made a mistake. They feel terrible but if there is a consolation, it's the fact it doesn't effect anything. It would have been really bad if we had won and been in a bad situation because of that.

"I can assure you it is not going to happen again."

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