LEWIS Stevenson, who earned the accolade of man of the match at Hampden as a teenager when Hibernian won the League Cup just two years ago, has admitted the Easter Road club's recent run of poor form is taking its toll on his nerves.
As Hibs finalised their preparations for tonight's visit to Hamilton, where they hope to win in the SPL for only the second time this year, the 21-year-old left-back spoke of growing anxiety about the team's deteriorating performances as well as indi
fferent results. "We're in a bit of a rut and what makes it worse is that everyone knows that," said Stevenson. "A few games ago we were saying it's not so bad. Now the pressure is getting to us. We need a few breaks and, hopefully, it will turn around.
"We're not playing well at all. So that makes it harder to turn round. The defeat at Inverness was a really bad (performance]. The game against Falkirk might not have been great, but everyone was working hard and there was a slight improvement.
"At home, we went into that game looking for a win and to get the fans back on our side. In the end, a draw wasn't a bad result for us and, at least, we're still hard to beat."
With confidence levels at such a low ebb, Stevenson was asked if it became harder for players to take responsibility and get on the ball. "That's probably right," he replied. "People are feeling the pressure. I have to say I felt pretty nervous before the game on Saturday knowing that the pressure was on.
"But we're professional footballers and we shouldn't let that affect us. It's our job to get on the ball. Everyone just needs to do better."
Since Hibs have only won eight games in all league and cup competitions this season as well as recording just one victory in their last ten games, it's hardly surprising manager Mixu Paatelainen is under fire.
"We try not to think about that, but maybe in the back of our minds we feel we have to win for the gaffer," replied Stevenson when asked about the pressure mounting on the manager. "I think we (as players] should be taking more of the blame than him."
Although he tasted the good times when he won a League Cup medal, Stevenson was quick to recall it hasn't all be plain sailing since he broke into the first team. "I think we had a worse spell than this under John Collins when we dropped from third all the way down to ninth," remembered the Under-21 internationalist. "At least we know we can come out of these bad spells. Looking at our squad, we have decent players. But in some games we're not scoring, in others not defending well. Everyone has to look at themselves and, hopefully, it will all come together."
The one note of encouragement for Hibs is that they're only three points shy of the top six in seventh place. According to Paatelainen it would be self-defeating to press the panic button and make sweeping changes.
Paatelainen has brought in 15 players over the past 14 months and paid out more than £700,000 in transfer fees.
So far, too many of those new faces have fallen short of meeting the minimum standard expected at Easter Road – namely, a side good enough to secure a berth in the top six and compete with city rivals such as Hearts, Dundee United and Aberdeen for a place in Europe.
One of the reasons for that failing has been a worryingly poor standard of passing in midfield, where Hibs lack a playmaker. The big Finn believes the problem can be eased if only his players are more meticulous in possession.
"We need to take more care with the basic passing in the midfield and when we get into position for the final pass," he said. "Our passing hasn't been (good] all season, and it's something we work on all the time. Change doesn't happen overnight. They have decisions to make out there and quality players get the majority of those decisions right."
Hibs have already twice defeated Hamilton this season and a third success at New Douglas Park tonight would mean more to the Edinburgh club's morale than those wins combined.
Asked if he was still enjoying his job, Paatelainen said: "Absolutely. It's a challenge. Not for one moment when I entered management did I think it would be plain sailing. There are always sticky spells."
