Hibernian under-20s were held to a 1-1 draw at Dunfermline on Tuesday night with latest signing Tom Taiwo making his debut in bottle green.

Taiwo lined up in midfield alongside Lewis Stevenson, looking for extra match sharpness after his lay-off with a toe injury, and Shefki Kuqi, also still on the road to attaining full match fitness.

After the disappointment of losing at home to Hamilton the previous week, Hibernian under-20s, with Danny Handling, Sam Stanton and Ross Caldwell back in the squad, were determined to recapture the form that led to their opening three wins.

But Dunfermline took the lead at East End Park before Handling, playing on the right-hand side of midfield, equalised just before half-time.

After the break, Hibernian dominated the match, but could not translate possession into goals and were guilty of missing a handful of chances.

As a result, Head of Academy Coaching James McDonaugh thought the performance was passable, but not up to the lofty standard expected.

McDonaugh said: "​I thought we played okay, but not quite to the standard that we want. In the first half we had plenty of the ball but did nothing with it, playing too many sideways and backward passes.

"However we penetrated more in the second half and spent the majority in their half of the pitch. I felt we made two or three good chances and their keeper made saves to stop us winning. We made six changes from last week and taking this into consideration we played okay."

Goalscorer Handling played on the right wing for the first time since he featured for the first team during the overseas tour against Zeeland Select and again he found the net - much to his delight.

Handling said: "I'm happy to play anywhere and, after playing there against Zeeland Select, I knew what my role was.

"I thought that we played okay first half, but didn't create a lot of chances. In the second half we played a lot better and created more chances.

"Me and Ross (Caldwell) had two good chances, so we were disappointed not to get the win."

Hibernian u20s: Calum Antell, Andrew Black, Robert Wilson, Bradley Donaldson, Callum Crane, Danny Handling, Tom Taiwo, Lewis Stevenson, Sam Stanton, Ross Caldwell, Shefki Kuqi

Subs: Paul Grant, David Gold, Alex Harris, Dean Horribine, Ryan Baptie, Euan Smith, Harry Monaghan

The under-20s are back in action in a friendly on Friday against St Mirren at the Training Centre, East Mains, East Lothian.