Under-fire Hibernian boss Heckingbottom insists he will not quit

Paul Heckingbottom is adamant he will not walk away from the Easter Road hot seat amid further calls for his resignation.

But the Hibernian head coach admits there is no easy fix to their crisis of confidence.

Heckingbottom saw his side throw away another lead against Ross County on Saturday, with goals from Brian Graham and a Joe Chalmers thunderbolt cancelling out efforts from Daryl Horgan and Scott Allan.

Hibs have now dropped 13 points from winning positions this term, more than any other team in the division and Heckingbottom acknowledged after the game that his side struggled to cope with the mental aspect of holding on to a lead when the score went to 2-1.

The capital club remain in the Premiership’s relegation playoff position and without a league win since a narrow victory against St Mirren on the opening day of the season.

“Wins are the way to bring confidence back,” said Heckingbottom. “But if you were to say, ‘how do you get them to deal with that anxiety?’ Well, if there was an easy answer to that, then we’d all be doing it.

“That’s the magic question.

“For me, what I’ve said to the players and staff, the way we change it is through wins. That’s it.”

A vocal portion of the Hibs support, however, have decided Heckingbottom is not the man to spark a revival following an underwhelming start to the season.

Livingston visit Edinburgh on Wednesday on league duty before a Betfred Cup semi-final against Celtic, in what could be a defining week in Heckingbottom’s tenure.

“I’m absolutely not ready [to quit],” he said, when quizzed over his future. “I can’t demand more from the players and then give less myself.

“We have to fight, we have to stand up. You can’t say ‘it’s his fault, it’s his fault’. It’s down to all of us.

“You feel the pressure. Of course you do, the pressure to get results. It focuses you, makes you more determined, more driven.”

While Ross County co-manager Steven Ferguson was beaming with pride following a stirring comeback from his side, he was keen to swiftly turn his attention towards the midweek visit of Rangers.

And Ferguson is determined to ensure there is no repeat of County’s chastening 6-0 defeat against Celtic on October 19 when the Gers head north.

“We won’t have much time to think about the Hibs game,” he said. “We’ll dust ourselves down and make sure we’re ready for Rangers.

“We’ve seen how they’ve been domestically and in Europe. They are great to watch and full of really good players.

“Rangers are more than capable of doing to us what Celtic did to us. We don’t want a repeat of that. We’re well aware of Rangers’ strengths and, if we’re not at it, how they can hurt us.”