Paul Heckingbottom frustrated as Hibernian’s wait for a win continues

Hibernian manager Paul Heckingbottom bemoaned his side’s profligacy in front of goal as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Hamilton in the Ladbrokes Premiership.

The pressure is mounting on Heckingbottom, who is now without a win in the league since the opening day of the season against St Mirren.

The visitors deserved all three points against Accies but they squandered the lead for the fifth time in nine games to the frustration of Heckingbottom.

“Just replay the last, probably, three times I have sat in front of you, replay the same quotes, write the same things, same story.

“And that’s probably what’s frustrating me more than most, you know? Some real good play, especially in the first half, but we couldn’t put the game to bed.

“I’d be hypercritical if I was speaking about the team without the ball. We have come away to two teams who have got good home records in the last two games.

“I’d be hypercritical of the team out of possession if we are only giving that away between now and the end of the season then things would 100 per cent change, they would have to. We’d be getting three points for fun,” he said.

Stevie Mallan fired the visitors ahead with a powerful strike from range in the 21st minute but Hamilton were handed a lifeline in the game when the midfielder went from hero to villain after he was adjudged to have pulled down Blair Alston by referee John Beaton.

Ross Cunningham stepped up to emphatically fire home and cap off an excellent week for the academy graduate after signing a new contract until 2022 earlier in the week.

Hibs pressed for a winner late on with Tom James firing over the crossbar before substitute Florian Kamberi forced Owain Fon Williams into a great save from a rasping strike.

The hosts showed great resilience to bounce back from their thrashing against Rangers last time out and manager Brian Rice believed his side deserved to take something from the game.

“A draw was probably a fair result. I thought we were a threat on the break and really came into the game in the second half and we deserved something from the game.

!I wouldn’t say we were passive in the first half but Hibs were able to pass through us.

“They have some good players but we changed things a little bit before half-time and when we got the goal we put another striker on to try to win the game.”