Bashing the big self-destruct button was a theme at Hibs before Kieron Bowie ever set foot in Easter Road.
But already the summer signing from Fulham can see they have to stop hitting it to give themselves any chance of kicking their season into gear. David Gray's side have gone behind in the opening 10 minutes of their last three matches, and having worked so hard to turn things around against Dundee on Saturday, succumbing to a late Simon Murray equaliser was hard to take.
After Martin Boyle had cancelled out Scott Tiffoney's earlier opener, Bowie climbed off the bench to score his first Hibs goal, one he thought had proved to be the winner.
“Yeah, obviously there’s anger," said the forward. "But it’s mainly disappointment, I think. There’s not much you can say. It’s self-inflicted, isn’t it, really? That’s what has happened in the last few games. We have to improve in that area.
“I think when you score to make it 2-1 so late in the game, yeah, you maybe think it’s the winner. But to concede a goal so late is not really good enough. Everyone knows that, anyway. There are still a lot of positives to build on from the game. But there are obvious negatives, as well.
“When you score, the emotion, honestly there’s nothing better than putting the ball in the back of the net. That’s my first. And hopefully there will be many more this season."
The second-half on Saturday was the most threatening Gray's side have looked in what has otherwise been a slow start to the new Scottish Premiership campaign. A double-header against Celtic - the second in the Premier Sports Cup - certainly didn't help, but with just one Premiership match away at Kilmarnock remaining until the first international break of the season, Hibs are still without a win. But Bowie believes they have shown glimpses of what they're building towards under Gray, but that sustained progress will only arrive when they stop causing their own problems.
“One hundred per cent, the manager can get the best out of us," said the former Raith Rovers youth. "We’ve shown it some flashes, haven’t we? But we’ve conceded too many goals at the other end. And that’s something we ALL have to work on. That can be the strikers pressing, the midfielders getting up, defenders defending. It’s a collective. And it’s never one person’s fault, it’s the whole squad who take responsibility.
“I think three points will do us the world of good, when we get that win. That’s what we’re trying to achieve every week, isn’t it? The two games against Celtic, they’re tough to assess. Because going to Celtic Park, even them coming here, they’re going to be really difficult games. I wasn’t here for the St Mirren game. But there isn’t really any pressure – we look to get the three points next week.
“If you look around the changing room, there is definitely the ability there to do much better than we have been doing. That’s the frustrating thing, that we’ve not been doing as well as we should. That will come in time. It takes time for everyone to gel together. As a team, we haven’t really played together for that long. So I think it will come."
Boos rang around Easter Road at full-time, and the atmosphere during a disappointing first 45 was decidedly tetchy until Boyle curled a free-kick into the top corner shortly before the interval. But as Hibs pushed on from the restart, that anxiety turned into something more energising, peaking when Bowie wriggled away from two Dundee defenders to slot home. The 21-year-old says anger on the terraces won't faze him, nor does he feel a heavy burden on his shoulders to deliver the goals he's certain he can provide.
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“I don’t know if I can speak for anyone else. But for me, I tend not to notice it," he said. "I’m just so focused on the game, I can’t hear anything being said. That might be different for other players. But I don’t really hear it.
“I think every striker wants a goal. It builds confidence to do certain things you maybe wouldn’t do if you’ve not had a goal in a while. So a goal so early is really great, coming off the bench. Its good to get it out of the way and have no added pressure on me, personally."
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