Manager Post Hibs

13/08/16: Pars manager Allan Johnston felt that his team did not deserve to lose the league match at Easter Road:-

"In the first half they caused us a threat from setpieces because of the height they have got. You can see at the goal that they got, we were stretching for it and it goes in your own goal. That sometimes happens but credit to the players I thought they responded brilliantly in the second half.

"At one each it looked as though we were the only team that was going to go and score. It was a cruel blow to let them score in the manner in which they did.

"We are all gutted with that but you just have to look at the positives. The way we played, the way we passed the ball, we never sat back. You know a lot of teams would just have come here and just `parked the bus`. We went and had a go and are really disappointed not to get anything out of the game.

"Hibs and Dundee United are favourites to win the league so to put in a performance like that against one of the top teams means that if we keep doing that week in week out, we are not going to be far away from the top of the table.

"There are a lot of positives but we have to learn from the wee mistakes that we are making because at this level you get punished for that."

The manager was asked if he had sympathy for his centre half Callum Fordyce whose mistake in his first match back handed the victory to Hibs. He replied:-

"I thought he was excellent for his first game in a long time. Obviously we were kind of forced into that with Lee (Ashcroft) getting suspended last week. I thought he did really really well but that happens. It was a bad bounce and you just have to move on from that. You cannot let that affect you.

"Callum is obviously disappointed but you have to look at his overall performance. He has been out for a length of time and I thought he was different class - he looked as though he had never been away. It was a massive test for him today but I thought he handled it really well.

"He has played five games for the 20s so he was up to match speed. He was getting a bit tired towards the end but looking at the performance from the whole team - Gavin Reilly getting his first goal from a great bit of play.

"Second half it looked as though we were on the ascendancy and looked as though we were going to win the game. We are disappointed and have to make sure that we get the win the game next week."

Final word was for the 1235 strong travelling support who created a fantastic atmosphere in the stadium:-

"The support was unbelievable. You could see the way they stood at the end as well, waiting for the players. I think that is testimony to the way the players played as well. They waited and clapped them off, so the boys really appreciate that and their support as well. Hopefully we can get the result next week for them."

Hibs manager Neil Lennon did not want to put a negative slant on what he described as "another very good performance."

"We dominated the game for long periods and we had chances and attempts on goal that could have been two or three up at half time. We scored when we were in control and when we switched off with a break in play when Lewis Stevenson went down and they scored a very good goal.

"For around ten minutes we wobbled and we have to learn to manage that better. Good players making basic errors for no reason. It is just the psychology of the game that we have to deal with better. They reacted and after that we settled."

Click to link below to hear more from Neil Lennon

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