Joe Newell spoke to the media after Hibs lost 4-1 at Celtic. Here's everything the midfielder had to say.

Was that a tough shift?

“I think we just gave ourselves a mountain to climb didn’t we? When you go to Parkhead you have got to be tight and difficult to beat first and foremost. We obviously gave them a head start early doors. That is the most frustrating thing. It was the same thing at the start of the second half.”

Was it especially frustrating to concede from a set-piece?

“Every manager and every player will say that is their biggest bugbear in football. You think you can be solid there whether you are zonal or man for man. We will look back on that and try and rectify. When you go and play a team like Celtic they have got such good players and they can cut you open so easily. To concede a goal from a set piece feels a bit cheap really.”

The team definitely had chances, do you have to be more clinical?

“I think we have to be better in both boxes. Football is won and lost in both boxes. You try to get control of the game in midfield. But we weren’t clinical enough in both boxes. In the first half we missed two one-on-ones. Not that they were great chances, but on another day they might go in. Listen, I wouldn’t say we deserved anything from the game, but I think we can definitely be better than we were in both boxes, definitely.”

How important is it not to let this derail a good couple of weeks?

“We’ve been brilliant lately. There’s no doom or gloom, it’s not a big disaster or anything. It is a night we will look back on and analyse where we went wrong and what we can learn from. But we are in a good place. We have got a massive game on Saturday and we have got huge fixtures coming up before the break that we are going to try and stamp our authority on. We are at a football club where every game is huge.

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"We went to Parkhead fully expecting to be competitive and try and win the game. We didn’t go there to roll over, we never would do. Every fixture for us is huge if we want to be where we want to be at the end of the season. The games before Christmas and the derby after Christmas are real opportunities for us. We will learn from last night, look at where we went wrong and take the positives. There was some good stuff as well. Then we will go again.”

Hibs fans appreciated that you went to Celtic Park and tried to play. Is that encouraging?

“Definitely. There are different ways to play football obviously. Teams will go to Parkhead and sit behind the ball. Motherwell did that the other week and got a draw and fair play to them. But we are not going to do that. Since the gaffer has come in he has been very clear on how he wants us to play and we are all together as a club going forward. The fans are starting to come on board to it now. I think they are appreciating it. There will be lessons from last night, but it is about staying with our philosophy and our beliefs. Hopefully further down the line we will go to Parkhead, play the same way and get results.”

The team hasn't been playing this way for long, can you perfect the system and improve further?

“Of course. The manager has only been here two or three months, not that long really. We haven’t had a pre-season with him, there has been a lot of games. It will take time, it will not happen overnight. But I think the change you have seen already has been quite drastic. I have felt it personally playing in it. Not many teams will go to Parkhead and try and play like we did.

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"We obviously lost, but we won’t go away from what we are doing and the manager won’t want us to do that. It’s good. When it comes off, it is really good to watch. For me personally I prefer it to your old school lump it up the pitch style. It is a work in progress, but we will carry on and won’t change from it.”

Results elsewhere mean you haven’t lost ground, you'll still be looking up, not down?

“Yeah, definitely. With the size of the club we play for and represent you can’t afford to do that. Even if we were sitting 10th we would still be focusing on European football. Now we have picked up after a bad start to the season it is full steam ahead really. We are looking forward to it, we are full of confidence and momentum, regardless of last night.”