Hibernian exited the Premier Sports Cup competition at the second-round stage, losing 3-1 to Celtic in Glasgow. An early double from Daizen Maeda put the hosts in the driving seat but Mykola Kukharevych halved the deficit shortly before half-time. Hibs appeared to take confidence from the goal and upped their performance but they shot themselves in the foot, not for the first time this season, by handing Celtic the decisive third goal on a plate. 

Marvin Ekpiteta's passback was a little too soft, which allowed Nicolas Kuhn to close down Joe Bursik, and in his attempt to clear the ball the 'keeper could only hit it off the German attacker and into the net. 

Patrick McPartlin provides the instant analysis as Hibs suffer a third straight competitive defeat.

Defensive questions once again

Going into the summer, Hibs needed serious surgery in the goalkeeping department and centre-back, given David Marshall’s retirement and Jojo Wollacott’s exit, and the departure of Will Fish back to parent club Manchester United and Paul Hanlon moving onto Raith Rovers. Hibs reacted by bringing in Josef Bursik and Jordan Smith between the sticks, and Marvin Ekpiteta and Warren O’Hora for central defence.

The initial signs, in pre-season and most of the group-stage games in the Premier Sports Cup, were cautiously positive. Bursik looked comfortable in goal and Ekpiteta and O’Hora, selected as Gray’s first-choice pairing, appeared to have developed a good understanding and presented a useful combination of ball-player (O’Hora) and no-nonsense stopper (Ekpiteta). 

But there were questions asked of the defence in the season opener at St Mirren - both by the Buddies forwards and the travelling fans as the hosts found it all too easy to romp to a 3-0 win - and again last weekend against Celtic. 

Even with an additional centre-back in the team in Rocky Bushiri, and a shift to a back five in this game, the defence still struggled. Celtic found it far too easy for their first two goals and their killer third was completely avoidable - another self-inflicted wound by the rearguard, of which there have already been far too many. 

Perhaps it is unfair to completely judge the defence on three games, two of which have been against Celtic, but the alarm bells were already ringing against St Mirren. With Dundee up next - a team that has scored 29 goals so far this season - Gray may be tempted to tinker with his backline in a bid to find a solution. 

Because as things stand, Hibs can sign all the attackers they want, and bring in different profiles in midfield, but it won’t matter a jot if they can’t shore up at the back and stamp out the individual errors. With Riley Harbottle joining AFC Wimbledon there is space for another centre-back to join the ranks and on recent performances, it might have to be a genuine starter rather than someone to make up numbers. 

Same Hibs, different week

The main takeaway from last week's league game at Easter Road, at least from David Gray's point of view, was that losing an early goal was exactly what they wanted to avoid. So to see the same thing happen seven days later, with just a 60-second difference, was concerning.

Gray's logic behind opting for a back three made sense, but it was always going to be risky given how disjointed Hibs have looked in the first two league matches, and Celtic exploited the visitors' uncertainty time and time again and could have scored more than the two they managed through Maeda in the first half. 

Credit to Gray for trying something different rather than doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome - and, as with last week, Hibs did have spells where they settled and played some nice stuff - but they need to be able to do that for 90-plus minutes, and wipe out the avoidable individual errors. Until they do, they will continue to struggle and it could be a long old season in EH7.

Promising signs from Kukharevych

With Dylan Vente returning to the Netherlands to join PEC Zwolle on loan for the season, there may be extra pressure on Mykola Kukharevych to produce the goods up top. The towering Ukrainian forward was brought on as a substitute in the 3-0 defeat by St Mirren but looked short of match sharpness in a game where no Hibs player really impressed, and he made his first start last week against Celtic but didn’t get much change out of Cameron Carter-Vickers and Liam Scales.

Hibs were barely out of their own defensive third for most of the first half in this game but Carter-Vickers’ foul on Kukharevych led to a free kick and a yellow card for the USA internationalist, and Martin Boyle’s set-piece was on a plate for the on-loan Swansea forward, whose looped header gave Kasper Schmeichel no chance. 

Given Vente’s well-documented struggles up front, and Hibs drawing a blank in their first two league games, it feels important that Kukharevych has opened his account relatively early in his second spell at Hibs - even if it ultimately amounted to nothing. 

His all-round game, too, was decent and the more minutes he gets the more effective he will be which, given Hibs’ start to the season, will be just what David Gray is craving in the final third. 

Midfield issues laid bare as 18yo joins squad

Hibs have a number of midfielders on their books who aren't anywhere near the first team. Allan Delferrière, Jake Doyle-Hayes, and Nohan Kenneh appear to be well outside David Gray's first-team plans and weren't included in today's squad, with young midfielder Jacob MacIntyre travelling as the extra man; the additional player who can join the bench in case of an injury during the pre-match warm-up.

It was perhaps telling that the 18-year-old travelled over the likes of more senior midfielders at Gray's disposal, but also lays bare Hibs' issues in the middle of the park. Another youngster in Rudi Molotnikov has been one of just a few positives from the last few games, with Dylan Levitt not getting off the bench against Celtic and Luke Amos a late replacement for Joe Newell when the game was done. 

There are some Hibs fans who may never accept Josh Campbell as a starting player but he did show a bit more than some of his team-mates at Celtic Park, particularly during the period of time after Mykola Kukharevych’s goal, as he drove the side forward, won the ball back in key areas and attempted to drag Hibs back into the game. There are weak elements to his game but he is clearly someone Gray trusts, which is partly why he consistently starts in that attacking midfield role - and also because as things stand, Gray doesn't have an awful lot of options, as evidenced by last week's game, when Gray tried Levitt as the ten and Campbell at six, before swapping them early. Molotnikov can play there, and showed up well in the position against Celtic, but is clearly being managed by the coaching staff to avoid being overplayed.

One of the main reasons the lauded midfield combination of Scott Allan, Dylan McGeouch, and John McGinn was so successful was because they complemented each other. They were a good, all-round triumvirate in the middle of the park but since then, Hibs haven't been able to find a formula that clicks.  Their pursuit of Luke McCowan or other midfield reinforcements will likely continue, possibly even until the end of the transfer window, but if Hibs can get the right personnel in that midfield, it could transform the team.