David Gray won't make Hibs 'excuses' as he warns stars they brought Kilmarnock collapse on themselves
David Gray admits poor concentration and not fatigue was the reasonHibs threw away a two-goal lead in a frustrating draw with Kilmarnock.
The Leith outfit were cruising inside half an hour thanks to Rocky Bushiri and Elie Youan goals.
But woeful defending allowed Liam Polworth to pull one back for the visitors just before the break before Ben Brannan grabbed the equaliser with a sublime volley from 25 yards in the 48th minute.
Killie had further chances to grab a third as Hibs shot themselves in the foot at the back.
And Gray refused to blame their hectic schedule for their poor second half display as they gear up for Thursday's Conference League second leg against Partizan Belgrade.
He said: 'It's hugely frustrating but certainly a game of two halves in terms of our level of performance as well.
'We started the game really well and for 44 of the 45 minutes in the first half I thought we were very good, dominated the game.
'But it's big moments in games so it's a really poor goal to lose at the time. It just gave a little bit of momentum.
'It's a wonder goal to get it back to 2-2 but our level of performance from that moment was certainly a lot lower than it was in the first half.
'A lot of the opportunities we gave up were all self-inflicted. That's something that clearly we'll need to improve on and we'll show the players to make sure.'
Asked if his players were feeling tired following five games in 18 days, Gray replied: 'I think that would just be using an excuse.
'I think the way we started the game was everything I asked the players for. The intensity we played at, the way we moved the ball.
"If you're not at it or you're feeling fatigued going into the game, we wouldn't have put in that level of performance. I do think the concentration was something in the second half.
'But in terms of how the players are feeling, they're all feeling fresh. They're all feeling like they know the second half performance wasn't as good as the first one.'
Kilmarnock boss Stuart Kettlewell lavished praise on youngster Brannan for his goal but also singled out defender Ethan Brown after the 20-year-old made his debut.
He said: 'It was a great shin wasn't it! Everybody talks about trying to get academy graduates into your team, we had four today if you include the seasoned veteran in Rory McKenzie.
'You need to deliver and deal and come up with that emotional intelligence. I think with the modern footballers you see players in that scenario taking a touch but I love that personality and imagination to take it on.
'It's phenomenal the impact he's made, the other layer to that as well is that he's playing out of position on the other side of the pitch.
'Also Ethan Brown against coming in and being thrown in at the deep end, full marks to him and it was fantastic to see him take part in the game the way he did and it looks like a bright future in the game for these lads if they keep progressing at the speed they are.'
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