I'm to blame
Andersson admits fault for one goal while Whittaker expresses his delight…

THE SECOND HALF ON SATURDAY COULD HAVE BEEN A LESS TENSE AFFAIR HAD HIBS NOT not contrived to give away a two goal advantage after a very positive first half.  Give them away they did and with Daniel Andersson coming in for some stick for his decision to punch the ball clear from a corner kick as opposed to catching it, it is refreshing to hear a player actually stand up and take the blame for an error of judgement without trying to attribute any part of it to someone else.

"I took the blame for the second goal - so I'm really proud of the guys that they did not give up and that winner at the end was just brilliant.  I was quite pleased with my own game but for that corner I punched the ball and it came back off the head of the Partick guy, so that was not the best for me!  But as I say I took the blame for that and luckily we then went on to get our winner, and I'm pleased about that."  A confession from the Swede who kept Hibs very much in the game with a succession of saves that James Grady was to call 'world class'.  The feeling you get from Andersson though is that he doesn't want the spotlight and he's very much there to do his job.  Indeed, if you get the opportunity to speak to him outside the ground or hear him being interviewed for television or radio, you will hear him only talk in these terms, something he did again on Saturday evening when summing up how the game had gone from his own point of view.

Whittaker celebrates his first 'senior' goal with Scott Brown (sns)

"We did not play as well as we did in the first half, when we worked more as a team," Andersson said, adding:  "It was quite obvious and we gave Partick a chance to get back into the game.  I had a couple of good saves but that is what I'm there for, but another way to look at things is how they managed to get these chances.  We have to look at that as it was not very good was it?  As I said we played well in the first half but in the second we struggled quite a bit.  I was not really surprised that they would get chances in the game, in particular as we did not work as a team in the second 45 minutes."  As good a summary as it gets but a lot of the second half problems stemmed from not being able to handle the change in formation that Partick had made during the half time interval.  The midfield in particular seemed to lose out with the introduction of a fourth man in the middle after dominating the first half.  Whether this was down to inexperience or whether this was tactic related, only Bobby Williamson could probably answer that one but the changes did give the Jags the impetus to get forward and create the chances which eventually saw them get on level terms.

With Partick still firmly rooted to the bottom of the league and Hibs climbing to seventh, every point from now until the split in April is vital for both sides, something not lost on Andersson.  "If we stop working then chances will appear for the opposition, and there were perhaps a few too many for Partick in this game.  The trade mark for Partick now must be to never stop working and go for it in every game, that is what it requires to stay in this league.  Nothing fancy - just hard work all the way through and see where that gets them at the end of the season.  The way they played in the second half on Saturday they perhaps deserved to take something from the game, but it was very important for us to get a result in this game after our recent defeats.  Now hopefully we can build on that and keep a winning run going."

Meanwhile the man responsible for getting Hibs off the hook with minutes to go is still not counting his chickens in as far as keeping his place for this weekend's Scottish Cup tie is concerned.  Steven Whittaker's strike with six minutes left on the clock sent Hibs home happy but the 19 year old knows that it won't necessarily keep his boss in the same state.  “Nothing is definite for anyone and you’re only as good as your last game but hopefully I’ll keep my place in the team.  I don’t know if I need goals to stay in the team – I think as long as we win the game and you do well then it will be enough to stay in the team."  Despite having twelve appearances this season, five as a starter, along with three from last, this was Whittaker's first goal for the 'senior' side, something he took great delight in.  “I came on as substitute and had a few long-range shots but never really a clear-cut chance so I was delighted to get my first goal.  The fact that it was the winning goal made it extra-special.”

Once again though, Hibs left it late to win the game, a sign perhaps of changes in the way that the team are being prepared off the field by Williamson and his back room staff.  “Winning games late on is a good habit to have and because we have such a young team, it means that we’re probably more energetic.  Hopefully that means that we have higher fitness levels than other teams and that tells in the last five minutes or so.  We’ve got some experienced players in the team and they help us along. We all know the game and we never give up so we just have to keep working away.”  As long as that mentality continues, there will hopefully be no repeat of the losses that were suffered throughout last season.