'That Hibs performance can't happen again': Home truths after Motherwell defeat

Defeat to Motherwell on Saturday may have jeopardised Hibs’ top-six hopes, but midfielder James Jeggo believes they can still secure a place among the elite when the split happens in a few games’ time and then use that momentum to push for European football next term.

The Australian has played a key role for the Easter Road club since joining in January but he was one of a slew of players who drastically under-performed at the weekend, as they passed up the opportunity to close the gap on third-placed Hearts, instead allowing Aberdeen to pull away in fourth, St Mirren to leapfrog them into fifth. With three games left before the Premiership halves for the run-in, Lee Johnson’s men have a narrow one-point advantage over Livingston in seventh.

“It was very disappointing, the result in itself was not what we wanted and I think the performance was disappointing,” admitted the experienced defensive midfielder, who was one of many to struggle with basic possession and distribution on a day when everything fell flat. “We were miles off the type of team we want to be. Performances had been very good, bar the Rangers game, over the last six games so to be so drastically bad is disappointing and we need to get a grip, quicksmart. We really let ourselves down. Three points would have been a really big step for us. You can lose games when you play well and things just go against you. But, in this one, we were miles off it individually and as a team.”