‘We shot ourselves in the foot’ admits Hibs goalscorer Stevie Mallan

Stevie Mallan insisted that if Hibs had taken their chances against Hearts they would be celebrating a derby day win rather than having been left to mull over a defeat.
Steven Mallan reacts after Hearts won the derbySteven Mallan reacts after Hearts won the derby
Steven Mallan reacts after Hearts won the derby

The midfielder had fired the Easter Road side into the lead two minutes into the second half with a rocket shot but goals by Uche Ikpeazu and Aaron Hickey earned Craig Levein’s side the win, one which lifts them above their Capital rivals in the Premiership table.

But, confessed Mallan, he and his team-mates had the opportunities to have taken the game away from Hearts, most notably when Swedish star Melker Hallberg blasted the ball wide from a good position.

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“We have shot ourselves in the foot with the defeat,” admitted Mallan. “It wasn’t good enough from ourselves. As soon as we scored we let Hearts get the ball a little bit and let them come into the game. We should be capitalising on us scoring a goal. It just didn’t happen.

“We had a couple of chances in the first half and another chance in the second half and maybe if we had taken them we could be cheering now and not mulling over a defeat. You have to take your chances, especially in big games like this.

“They are the moments that matter. Yeah, I got a goal today, but throughout the team we could have got a few more and killed off the game. We could have killed off the Hearts attacks as well. We didn’t do that.

“Slowly but steadily they came into the game. It just wasn’t good enough from ourselves, especially in that period of the game when we should have been seeing the game out.”

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Mallan insisted that it’s not only boss Paul Heckingbottom who is under pressure but everyone at Easter Road. He said: “Everyone is in it together. It isn’t just the manager, it’s every player that is under pressure. We are under pressure for our positions as well. I don’t think it’s fair to single out the manager, it is every player who deserves it as well.”