Source: FOOTYMAD
No Idea What Is Missing
Hibs players have no idea what is not allowing them to click into gear Hibs are still in the Scottish Cup thanks to Mark Brown's finger-tip save but he is unsure how to turn around the capital side's fortunes. Ayr United substitute Andy Rodgers was denied by Brown in the second minute of stoppage time as Second Division Ayr United earned a 0-0 draw at Easter Road and a fourth-round replay back at their Somerset Park home. Hibs have now gone two months without a win to show for their efforts and manager Colin Calderwood can only look back on a record of two wins out of a possible 12 since he took over from John Hughes. The one positive Calderwood can take from the game was game time for Merouane Zemmama and Darryl Duffy. Brown hopes the pair can be the catalyst for a change in fortune. He said: "We've tried everything. Thankfully Zouma (Zemmama) is back, Darryl Duffy's playing. They just need games to get match sharpness. It's another couple of players and now the transfer window's open we'll maybe get another couple in. It could be something like that, something clicking from there. It's difficult when the results are going the way they are. We just have to get our heads down, work on the training pitch and when it comes to the match just try and turn what we're doing in training into the match performance. When it's coming to the games it just doesn't seem to be clicking." Brown is adamant unity and team spirit is not the problem, although the sometimes petulant behaviour of some of the team - including top scorer Derek Riordan, who is out of contract at the end of the season - suggests otherwise. Brown said: "I think the team spirit's good. You can do off-field things, but at the end of the day it's what you do on the pitch. As a group at training we're fine and there's good banter in the changing room. It's just when it comes to the games we don't seem to be getting the breaks. A fluke goal or something might change everything round. It's just a case of keeping our heads down and getting on with things." It is not as if Hibs have an easy game at the weekend to start building confidence as they take on Celtic at Easter Road on Saturday. Brown, who will be facing one of his former teams, added: "Celtic had a great result last week against Rangers and it's a case of us preparing like we do for every game and when they come try and put in a better performance." The Scottish Cup game will be replayed on 19 January and Ayr boss Brian Reid is confident his side can claim a memorable triumph. He said: "We've got to take belief now. You're a wee bit wary when you're playing a Premier League club and you're a Second Division part-time club. But they must take belief from that, coming here and creating the chances they did. We know they'll be hurting from that Hibernian and they'll want to come down and put the matter right. It's up to us to put on another good performance and you never know on the night." Editor Ger Harley (ger@scottishfitba net)Admin Team (admin@scottishfitba net)This is Scottish-Fitba.Net
