Hibernian manager David Gray has admitted the club's crushing Conference League exit at the hands of Gent stung after being within touching distance of creating history.
It was all looking good for Hibs after goals from Jason Kerr and Felix Passlack wiped out teenager striker Josue Vergara's first-half opener. But Christian Burgess levelled with six minutes left before Miguel Chaiwa turned the ball into his own net with Ibrahima Cisse ready to pounce at the back post. A miserable night for Chaiwa was capped off when he was then ordered off for a second booking in the dying seconds.
Gray: 'It hurts, it's going to sting'
Gray, whose team fought out a goalless draw in Belgium seven days earlier, said: "It's really hard to put into words, in terms of the feeling in the group. It hurts, it's going to sting. It's hard to be critical of the players about the effort they've put in."
"And I think over the two legs we deserved to go through. It's tough to take because I don't think we got what we deserved for our second half. We certainly deserved more for our performance. The second half was exactly what was required because we were behind in the tie - we had energy, belief and the desire."
"The tie was decided in two massive moments at the end of the game - we lost a goal from a set piece then went up the other end and had the best chance of the game to win it 3-2. People don't want to hear me talk about positives right now but I think in time we'll see there were."
Chaiwa's own goal and red card
Gray now faces the difficult task of trying to lift his players physically and mentally for Sunday's trip to Dundee. The Leith side have three points from their opening two games after beating Rangers and losing to Motherwell. Gray will also have to get behind midfielder Chaiwa following his own devastating ending to the game.
He added: "Miguel covered every blade of grass but in the last minute in his recovery he put it into his own net. It's my job and the staff's job to get around the players. To compete at this level again our domestic form needs to be strong. The big thing is in these moments we stick together, the big characters need to pick the other ones up. That's also my job and my staff's job."
Gent boss hails belief
Gent boss Rik De Mil hailed his team for going right to the end. He said: "I'm very happy with the character of the boys. We played well in the first half and found spaces, creating some chances. We knew we'd have to be prepared for what would happen in the second half and Hibs were better than us."
"We suffered, they scored their goals and the game was more equal. But our players kept believing, it was incredible. You need a bit of luck, of course, but that belief is so important."
