Hibernian head coach David Gray offered no clues during his pre-match press conference as to whether he could make a change in goals for Tuesday night's Scottish Premiership clash with Aberdeen after Josef Bursik's error against Dundee gifted the Dark Blues their third goal in Saturday's 4-1 defeat at Dens Park
The on-loan Club Brugge 'keeper received a backpass from substitute Jack Iredale but took a bad first touch, allowing Dee forward Seb Palmer-Houlden to put him under pressure, dispossess him, and poke the ball into the unguarded net.
"Oh my word..." 🎙️
— Premier Sports (@PremSportsTV) November 23, 2024
It goes from bad to worse for Hibernian as Josef Bursik's poor touch leads to a Seb Palmer-Houlden goal for @DundeeFC 🔵#DUNHIB | @spfl pic.twitter.com/OTttqpkvBn
It's not the first time Bursik has made a mistake during a match that has led to a goal but Gray remained coy over his status as the club's No.1, with back-up Jordan Smith having only placed once since signing, in the 1-0 defeat by Kelty Hearts during the Premier Sports Cup group stages, and third-choice Max Boruc without inclusion in a Hibs matchday squad since the loss at New Central Park.
"I've always got big calls to make. I've had big calls for a number of weeks, because it's not just Joe, there have been a lot of players making individual errors. That's been a common theme for us this season," Gray said, when asked about his options between the sticks.
"I don't know what it is exactly - 14 points lost from winning positions? I think the biggest issue we've had is we're almost beating ourselves, when you look at the goals we've conceded in the games, and the decisions we've made in games that have cost us.
"Unfortunately for goalkeepers, when they make a mistake, they very often get punished and when they do get punished, it leads to a goal. Josef has gone through a really difficult moment, and it's a situation that's not great for everybody involved but again, it's about everybody doing everything they possibly can.
"The goalies are working as hard as they can every day in training. But we need to stick together, most importantly."
Asked how he planned to reduce the potential for nervousness in the defenders playing in front of an error-prone goalkeeper, Gray responded: "You just need to keep working hard. There's competition [for places], as you've seen.
"For example, Rocky Bushiri came in at the weekend and was a credit to how he's trained for the last six months. He's not played the amount of games that he wanted to but he was ready to step in.
"There are still numerous individual errors happening that we are being punished for. You can feel sorry for yourself, or you can roll your sleeves up. But every single person involved needs to puff their chest out and be ready to take criticism. In the moment that we're going through, it's a tough time. You need to be ready for that, you need to accept that. But you also need to come out the other end of it. The only way you do that is by doing everything you can to change it and working as hard as you can."
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