Jamie McGrath admits the pain of conceding late against Dundee will stay with the squad during their enforced two-week break from competitive action. However, the Hibs midfielder insists David Gray’s side has not abandoned hope of reeling in Motherwell in the race for a guaranteed European spot, despite the dramatic 3-3 draw at Dens Park leaving the Easter Road club seven points adrift of the team currently sitting fourth.
Hibs, who face a blank weekend after being knocked out of the Scottish Cup by Dunfermline, looked set for a memorable win when McGrath struck to make it 3-2 with only two minutes of normal time remaining. The visitors had gone ahead through Owen Elding’s second goal in three starts, then trailed 2-1 late on before substitute Ante Suto and McGrath both scored in quick succession to seemingly secure all three points.
McGrath’s goal sparked wild celebrations at Dens Park
But Gray’s men conceded their seventh stoppage-time goal of the campaign when Cam Congreve unleashed an unstoppable left-footed effort past Raphael Sallinger in the 95th minute. With a European place likely reserved only for the team finishing fifth in the Scottish Premiership if Rangers or Celtic win the Scottish Cup, falling further behind Motherwell — who also hold a game in hand — felt like a major setback.
McGrath, clearly frustrated after failing to build on a landmark victory in Glasgow six days earlier, said:
"We wanted to follow up last week’s win because it was such a huge result going to Celtic Park and winning.
"So the aim was to back it up and close the gap on the teams above us. To finally get ourselves in front after working so hard, and then lose it, was very disappointing.
"We can’t sit on it for too long. We now have two weeks to reset and get back to work. There is still a lot of football to be played.
"It will sting for a few days, but we have to move on.
“Of course we can catch them (Motherwell). We just need to focus on ourselves. There are plenty of games and plenty of points still to fight for.
“Everyone still has to play each other, so our job is to collect as many points as possible and see where that leaves us at the end of the season.”
Looking back on what he believed was the winning goal, McGrath added:
"It’s obviously frustrating because we fought back to equalise and then scored what we thought was the winner.
"To have that taken away with the last kick of the match is extremely disappointing — even if it was a brilliant strike.
"If it had been us scoring in the final minute to make it 3-3, the emotions would have been totally different.
"So yes, it was a tough day. This is never an easy place to come, and scoring three goals away from home without winning makes it even harder to take."
Squad meetings to address major weakness
Asked why Hibs have struggled so much with conceding late goals this season, the midfielder admitted:
"I don’t really know. It’s not down to a lack of effort — everyone is giving everything.
"We have meetings and we all want the same thing. But sometimes you have to accept it was just a great finish.
"That’s the frustrating part because we have so many good players and play really well at times. It’s about producing that full performance consistently, which the gaffer talks about a lot.
"We’re working hard to fix it. But when you concede three goals away from home, it’s always difficult to win. And like I said, if we’d scored late to make it 3-3, people would be celebrating."
On the positive side, McGrath highlighted the growing impact of January signings such as Suto and Elding:
"They’ve been excellent. Kai contributed last week and Ante scored again here.
"There’s a lot of quality in the squad now. They’ve been great additions, and I’m really enjoying playing with the attacking players at the moment."
