BY IAIN COLLIN – @CCP_sport
Alan Stubbs insists Hibernian must now set their sights on returning to Hampden in the Scottish Cup after the ‘cruel’ end to their League Cup dreams.
Alex Schalk’s 90th-minute winner earned Ross County a dramatic 2-1 victory and landed the Dingwall outfit their first major cup silverware.
For Hibs, it was a massive let-down just days after three consecutive defeats dashed their hopes of challenging Rangers for the Championship title.
With tomorrow’s Scottish Cup quarter-final replay coming so soon after their Hampden heartache, Stubbs faces a huge task in reinvigorating his squad for the trip to face Inverness Caley Thistle.
However, he has urged his players to shake off their bitter disappointment and grasp the chance to return to the national stadium for a semi-final against Dundee United next month.
He said: “We’ve still got an awful lot to play for.
“They’ll need a day or so to get over it – and then we go again on Wednesday.
“We’ve got another tough game against Inverness, but potentially we’ve got another great opportunity to get back to Hampden again.
“We did really well to get there. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t finish the job off.
“It wasn’t through a lack of trying or a lack of fight.”
He added on Hibs TV: “But, unfortunately, cup finals can do that; they can be cruel – and we’ve seen how cruel they can be.”
