Lewis Stevenson: Point against Livingston could yet be vital for Hibs' European hopes

It was an afternoon of ifs, buts and what-might-have-been for those embroiled in the race for a Europa League spot and one which probably left all four protagonists feeling less than satisfied.

Given results elsewhere, there was an air of frustration around Easter Road, yet another draw preventing Jack Ross’s players from cashing in on Aberdeen’s surprise defeat at home to Ross County as Motherwell were held by struggling Hamilton.

Head coach Ross attempted to put a gloss on the day, his side a point closer to the Dons, However, in reality they could not only have hauled themselves above their visitors Livingston, but turned up the heat on those teams currently occupying third and fourth places in the Premiership.

A goal to the good thanks to Christian Doidge’s 17th strike of the season, following Scott Allan’s penalty attempt before the interval saved by Livingston goalkeeper Robby McCrory, Hibs, once more, allowed their opponents back into the match.

Aaron Taylor-Sinclair, who had handled the ball to concede that spot-kick, put the Lions back on level terms within six minutes as Gary Holt’s side again displayed that battling, never-say-die attitude.

As far as Hibs were concerned, though, it was the tenth time they’d surrendered a winning position in the league this season, three of those games ending in defeat while this was their tenth draw in the Premiership.

And, insisted Lewis Stevenson, who was pulled into the starting line-up minutes before kick-off after Joe Newell suffered a recurrence of an ankle injury in the warm-up, it was again a situation which he and his team-mates should have managed better.

“It was always going to be a stuffy game with not many chances for either team,” he said. “So, when you get a lead like that, for the next 15 to 20 minutes you want to hold out strong, even if it is not pretty. You want to shut up shop.

“But Livingston are a decent team, no, I should not say that, they are a good team who have caused a lot of teams problems this season and are where they are in the league on merit so maybe at the end of the year it might be a good point for us.

“We won’t be too hard on ourselves, the conditions were not great, it was blustery and there wasn’t a lot of good football played by either team. We didn’t play well but a point is maybe not a bad result.”

Taylor-Sinclair’s goal rejuvenated Livingston and Holt’s side did have chances thereafter, Scott Pittman, under pressure from Adam Jackson, putting one over while in the estimation of the Lions’ manager his goal-scorer had missed an even easier chance.

But Hibs were convinced they should have had another penalty late on as the ball appeared to strike the arm of Livingston defender Ciaron Brown, Ross admitting a second look at the footage convinced him his side had been hard done by.

“It is probably more clear than the one that is given,” he said. “By the definition of the rules, you would think that if one is given, the other should be because they are both pretty similar.”

As frustrating as it proved to be, the result maintained Hibs’ impressive run since the winter break with just that one defeat away to Rangers to their name since they went down to Livingston in December.

And, insisted Stevenson, the confidence taken from that will be required on Friday night when Inverness Caledonian Thistle travel to face Hibs in the quarter-final of the Scottish Cup, a re-run of their last-eight clash of four years ago when the Edinburgh club went on to end their 114-year hoodoo.

Back then Caley were the Premiership side with Hibs in their second of three seasons in the Championship, the tie settled on a replay on the banks of the Moray Firth with Anthony Stokes getting the goals in a 2-1 win.

Stevenson, the only member of today’s team who played in that game, said: “That’s probably the game that gets overlooked in the run to the final.

“We were at rock bottom, we’d just been beaten in the League Cup final by Ross County and everyone expected us to go up there and be turned over. But we put in a good performance. It was a massive game for us, but no bigger than Friday’s.”

Hibs, who have enjoyed favourable draws so far in the competition, beating Championship leaders Dundee United, albeit after a replay, and Lowland League BSC Glasgow, and, conceded Stevenson, they’ll be favourites to overcome John Robertson’s team.

But he cautioned: “The roles are reversed this time but it is going to be a tough game. I saw a bit of their match with Dundee United on Friday night and I thought they looked good and played pretty well in probably worse conditions than we played in the next day.

“We’ll have to be on our best game and probably play better than we did against Livingston.”

Hibs (3-4-1-2): Marciano; McGinn, Jackson, Hanlon; Boyle, Docherty, Slivka (Gullan 72), Stevenson (Horgan 81); Allan (F Murray 63); Doidge, McNulty. Substitutes not used: Bogdan, Omeonga, Hallberg, McGregor.

Livingston (3-5-1-1): McCrorie, Ambrose, Guthrie, Brown; McMillan (Jacobs 72), Pittman, Lawson, Sibbald,Taylor-Sinclair; Lawless (Robinson 86); Dykes (Souda 77). Substitutes not used: Schofield, Lamie, Crawford, Menga.