Late red cards. Even later goals. And now, controversial VAR decisions. Hibernian defender Marvin Ekpiteta is at a loss to pick out why the Easter Road side appear cursed, such is their knack at finding new ways not to win Scottish Premiership matches. All he knows is that it's on the players, not embattled head coach David Gray.

Sunday afternoon was perhaps the first time we've seen all three: a late red card, this time for Mykola Kukharevych after a second booking; a late goal, by Sam Dalby from the penalty spot; and a controversial VAR call - the decision to award the penalty, given for Kukharevych tugging Emmanuel Adegboyega's shirt in the box. 

The most frustrating part for Ekpiteta, a summer signing from Blackpool, is that after a shaky start to the league season, the defence has actually looked pretty solid in recent games and it was hoped a clean sheet in midweek at Ross County could be a turning point for Hibs to stop drawing or losing matches. 

So far, it hasn't been. 

"It's becoming a recurring thing," he said, speaking to the media after Sunday's match made it just one win in 11 matches. 

"It's happening too often now. I don't know what to say any more, to be honest. The pressure is mounting week by week but a lot of us are quite relaxed. We know that we're playing well but you can't play as well as we did on Sunday and not win the game.

"We feel like it's going to turn, it's just a matter of when. You can't just keep not winning games, especially at a club like this. We have to win more games."

It sounds so simple, so straightforward. And yet for all their possession or crosses or valiant defending, Hibs simply cannot see a game out. Admitting that the recurring nature of the last-ditch sucker punch is 'taking a toll on the team', Ekpiteta insists that while the inability to hold onto leads doesn't play on his mind, opposition teams know what to try in the final minutes of matches to try to take something from the game.

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"It doesn't play on my mind because I know if I did dwell on it, it would affect me towards the end of the match. I just try to think of it as a new game, a fresh game. 'We can do it, we can see the game out'. But unfortunately, it's just not happening. 

"We can't hide from it - opposition teams are going to play on it, play more direct, especially in the last ten minutes, because they think they can get something. As a back five, as a whole team, we have to see games out.”

Head coach Gray has remained positive with the group, despite pressure mounting on his position with Hibs still bottom of the table with just a single win against St Johnstone to his name. But Ekpiteta believes it's the players who have to make changes, rather than the boss.

“The gaffer's been really positive actually because most of the games we’ve played we’re dominating, we should win," he explained. 

“He sets us up right - the formation, set-pieces, our tactics, how we go into each game. It's just us on the pitch, really. After every game, we feel like we're coming out saying the same things.

“We get a man sent off, concede last-minute goals. I don't know what needs to change. Something has to change."

If you were to put a positive spin on the last three matches, you could say that Hibs ended a run of three straight defeats by remaining unbeaten in three games over the last week, including an Edinburgh derby against a Hearts side with two wins out of two under new manager Neil Critchley, a midweek trip to Dingwall, and a return match against Dundee United, who put three past Hibs just two weeks ago at Tannadice.

But the flip side is that Hibs could really have done with more than the three points from three draws that they picked up and although there is a crumb of comfort in only conceding two goals in three games rather than six across those three defeats, they still aren't scoring enough goals either. 

"I feel like we've been quite solid defensively. We've been doing well at the back," Ekpiteta continued. 

“I know we're supposed to try to take some sort of positive from these last three games that we've actually got a point and we haven't lost. Even though we should have won them, it's still a little positive to try to take from it.

We've just got to try and build on it, especially next week. The last game before the international break, we really need to get three points and see the game out.”