Junior Hoilett says a failure to do the basics is 'killing' Hibs' stuttering quest to kickstart their season.

David Gray's side slipped to a fourth defeat in seven Premiership outings on Saturday as they were beaten 2-1 at home to Motherwell. Hoilett notched his first goal in green and white since signing a one-year deal during the summer transfer window, but strikes from Apostolos Stamatelopoulos and Andy Halliday earned the Steelmen a victory, with Nectar Triantis' late sending-off compounding a miserable day for Hibs.

Both goals they conceded stemmed from an inability to deal with Motherwell's noted set-piece threat, with Gray afterwards branding their non-defending as 'unprofessional'. Hoilett was a bright spark on the day for the home side, the 34-year-old showing the composure and class that made him a popular figure during last season's short spell at Aberdeen. But the Canadian was unable to enjoy the moment

"We have so much potential in the squad and you can see the last few performances we put out, the potential is there to go out and dominate games the way we did," said Hoilett. "But it's the small margins that are killing us at the moment and that's the things we need to rectify to get the results to push us up the league.

“It starts on the training pitch. I think we have to keep focus and make sure we're doing the small things correctly and doing our jobs. Right now it's errors that can be rectified. They are not major problems but it's what's hurting us at the minute so we have to start from the training pitch, and everybody needs to remain focused and switched on day in, day out - and I'm sure that the results will turn.

“Since I made my debut, I've been enjoying every minute of it. I'm enjoying every day in training with the boys, it's a good group here. I just need to get the results. I'm at a stage in my career where I just want to go out and enjoy football and be a part of the group and win games."

Hibs were booed off at Easter Road and Hoilett says he understands the frustration that's simmering away among the supporters. Poor form sees Hibs slip down to 10th in the table which, even at this early stage, has fans understandably concerned as the attempts to improve on last season's miserable eighth-placed finish. But Hoilett has implored them to stick with the team as they attempt to put it right after the upcoming international break.

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"I can feel the supporters’ frustration, especially at home not getting the results when we dominated a game and we should have really gone out and won these games. I understand it," he said. “But we need them to play a role for us as well to stay on our side and be that extra support, that 12th man to get us through these games like this. For me, my message to them is to remain on our side and keep encouraging the boys to push on. If we took one or two of those chances in the first half of the game, it would have been different, I think. But that's football sometimes. It's a cruel sport.

“And right now, we just, like I said, go back to training and work on these small margins. I think on another day we would have scored two or three and the ball just didn't roll our way today. We just need to keep doing the basics right and make sure everybody is doing their job and switched on and be more disciplined to get the results."