Ryan says Hibs gave it their all

Published on 27/05/2013 12:00

RYAN McGIVERN believes Hibs deserve some credit for refusing to let their heads go down in yesterday’s 3-0 Scottish Cup defeat to Celtic.

Gary Hooper punished Hibs’ slack defending with a first-half double before Joe Ledley’s second-half strike sealed the double for the SPL champions.

McGivern feels it would have been easy for Hibs to collapse like they did against Hearts in last season’s final and insisted: “Going 2-0 down to Celtic we could have let the heads drop and collapsed so it became five or six. So credit to the lads because we kept at it.

“I don’t think we were disgraced or embarrassed here.

“The goals we lost were very sloppy, they should not have been conceded. But we deserve credit for the way we kept playing and could have scored ourselves.”

Despite the defeat, the reaction of the Hibs fans at the end was in marked contrast to 12 months ago, the majority stayed behind to applaud their team.

On-loan Manchester City star McGivern admitted: “We had a great support here, and the fans have been terrific throughout the season.

“It is frustrating for them, another year has gone by without Hibs winning the cup.

“Towards the end they were singing ‘We’ll support you evermore’ and that shows we put a shift in. Sadly it just was not enough on the day.

“We would love to come back and win the Cup for Hibs.”

McGivern is now out of contract with City and is hoping to get his future sorted out soon.

McGivern added: “The season has finished now so I’d like to think I will get something sorted soon.

“I want to put my feet up for a bit then make a decision.”

Taken from the Scotsman