Gray Frustrated By Livingston Stalemate

Hibernian FC Head Coach David Gray stated it was “an opportunity missed” after Hibs were held to a 0-0 draw by Livingston in Leith.

Hibs controlled proceedings at Easter Road as Jamie McGrath thumped the woodwork twice while having a third effort kept out on the goal-line, before a late onslaught failed to produce a match-winning strike.

Speaking to Hibs TV after the stalemate, Gray assessed his side’s performance.

“It’s very frustrating, very disappointing not to go and take three points today, it probably feels like an opportunity missed.

“We’ll reflect on the game and dissect it, I think we had enough chances to win two games, we created enough chances, but that last action maybe let us down in terms of being really ruthless and clinical in the final third. 

“Livingston, as I said in my pre-match, they are fighting for their lives. They defended for their lives today which makes it difficult to break them down and we needed that goal to really open up the game, unfortunately we never got it and it's funny how football works.

“We get a point today, we're disappointed not to get three, but we do move one point closer to Motherwell which is something we can take from the game.”

Our control of the match saw the team complete a season-high 664 passes for the league campaign while attempting 22 shots on goal.

Despite this pressure, Livingston would withstand our attacks for the draw to share the points, with Gray insisting the result was not due to a lack of effort from his players.

“We created chances; we've hit the bar, we've hit the post, I think Josh (Campbell) has missed from just under the bar as well.

“It was that clinical composure that was required to make sure we got the goal, it wasn't a lack of effort.

“I thought we restricted Livi to very little within the game, so we were very dominant, dominated every stat probably across the board but the only stat that matters is the scoreline in the corner - and if you don't score you can't win and that's the bit that's let us down today.”

With a “frustrating” match behind us, Gray is now looking ahead to potentially cutting the gap between ourselves and fourth-place Motherwell down further next weekend when the two sides meet at Fir Park.

“Every game is massive now, today was huge, you need to always look the positives you can take from a game. We've moved one point closer to the team ahead of us, we play them next.

“We’ve got an opportunity to go there and try and get three points, and if we can do that we can cut that gap down even further. 

“So (today’s result) is frustrating, you can feel the frustration around the place, the players are frustrated just now, but we it is still well within our reach, it's still in our hands. We need to dust ourselves down and get back on that training pitch and be ready for a massive game next week.”