The Hibees fell to a disappointing 1-0 defeat at Hampden Park against the 10-men of Aberdeen – with Bojan Miovski scoring the only goal of the game 12 minutes from time.
Hibs had a goal chalked off for offside and created plenty of chances but ultimately it wasn’t to be and we were knocked out of the League Cup at the semi-final stage.
Speaking to Hibs TV after the match, Joe Newell shared his thoughts on a disappointing afternoon.
“It is really tough, the lads are gutted in there. We felt we were in control of the game and playing the better football.
“The first half was a bit cagey, there wasn’t much in it – but we started the second half really well. We were the better side, had all the momentum and created some good chances. We got the goal chalked off and had that penalty shout too.
“But I think we were a bit naïve and lost our concentration for their goal – we shouldn’t be getting done like that on the counter-attack, it’s as simple as that.
“We have to go again, we have no choice. Everyone is absolutely gutted and it hurts a lot. I feel like it is a massive opportunity wasted again."
The Dons were reduced to 10-men after Jack McKenzie was shown a second yellow card in the 75th minutes. Despite dominating possession, Newell admits the Hibees didn’t make the most of the extra man.
"I think the red card ended up hindering us in the end, it meant they sat in and soaked up and the pressure. We need to improve in those situations, we were caught in between with our decision-making, and we got desperate and started to make a few bad decisions. That is the only negative I can say initially, I thought we played really well today which makes the defeat even harder to take.
“We will come back in on Monday and then get ready to go again – and turn our full focus on the league. We are nowhere near where we should be in the league and it is on us as players to turn that around.”
