Pat Fenlon: Hibs must not harbour bitterness

PAT FENLON insisted today that Hibs cannot afford to look back in anger at the decisions which have gone against them this season – even if it means they miss out on a top-six spot.

The Hibs boss was left smarting at the beginning of this month when a clear goal, which would have won them the match, was disallowed in the Edinburgh 
derby against Hearts.

And in February the Easter Road side were furious after Dundee United were awarded a late penalty kick to earn a draw at Tannadice, despite television pictures showing that the foul had been committed outside the box.

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Those two decisions alone may have cost Hibs at least four points and that would have been enough to secure a spot in the top half of the table.

Despite the injustice that the Hibs players and management clearly feel from those incidents, Fenlon, pictured above, says they must channel their energy into the remaining two games before the split.

Fenlon said: “As the song says, you can’t look back in anger, I suppose. You just have to get on with it, take it on the chin at times and bite your lip.

“That’s been difficult, but hopefully it doesn’t come down to that. We want to make sure we get into it, and no better way than if we get three points on Saturday. That would be a big help to us.”

Hibs have just two matches to earn their place in the top six and they are two of the toughest tests that they could have asked for.

They play host to Inverness tomorrow at Easter Road before rounding off their fixtures before the split with a trip to Parkhead to face Celtic.

Dundee United and Kilmarnock are their main challengers for the final place, although Hibs are still in the driving seat.

Even if they miss out though, Fenlon believes that there has been real improvement in his Hibs side compared to this time last year when they were 
battling against relegation.

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He continued: “I would have never thought a few months ago that we had it sorted out, but we’ve given ourselves a chance, and that’s the key, that we’ve still got that opportunity. Saturday’s a big game, a

massive game for us.

“I think the league has been tight. Over the last two or three weeks one or two teams have got into it, but there’s three or four that can still get there.

“We said at the start that we want to be in it. If we’re not in it I’ll be very, very disappointed. It’s up to other people then to judge whether we’ve made progress. I have my own

opinions on that.

“But the goal was to get into that. And that’s still the goal.

“We want to make sure over the next two games that we give ourselves every opportunity to do that. We’ve got a home game first, and I think it’s really important that we pick up three points. But by no means is it going to be easy, because we’re playing a really decent team.

“But we’ve come down to the last couple of games to give ourselves a chance. If you compare that to last year, it sort of answers the question.”