Hibs striker Stokes says crisis meeting spurred on the Hibees!!

Last updated : 29 March 2010 By Steve Forbes

Hibs striker Anthony Stokes has revealed that a squad meeting was what  spurred the Hibees on to a win over Falkirk at the weekend.

The Hibees have had a nightmare two months, winning only two out of nine games, but before that had only lost three in twenty three games.

The result was an exit from the Scottish Cup at the Quarter Final stage, at the hands of first division side Ross County, which came only three days after losing the Edinburgh derby to bitter rivals Hearts, the 2-1 scoreline not shwoing a true relection on the game, one that Hibs could lost by a lot more.

21-year-old Republic of Ireland forward Stokes scored his 19th goal of the season on Saturday, as Hibs finally got another win under their belts, with a 3-1 away win at Falkirk.

Stokes has revealed that it was a squad meeting that fired the players up for the game, he said:

"It's been a tough run and losing to Hearts last weekend then going out of the Cup was hard to take.

"But the gaffer sat us down after the County game and told us what we all knew.

"The last few weeks have been like a bomb scare - we blew up. Now we have to show character and bounce back.

"The manager's talk was good. He told us what we need to do as we were making basic mistakes.

"We have lost sloppy goals and need to get back to being ruthless. We did that in the second half against Falkirk. A couple of weeks ago we would have lost that game.

"In the second half they put us under the cosh a bit but we held on. It was a huge win and hopefully puts us back on track."

Further goals from Riordan and Bamba secured the points, with the Hibees moving back above Motherwell in to 4th spot in the SPL, and with a massive game at Easter Road this midweek against 3rd placed Dundee Utd, the stakes couldn't be higher.

Stokes added:

"It is a six-pointer as our target is to finish third. The fourth team qualifies for Europe too but finishing third would be a massive statement for next year.

"The gaffer has tried to change our mindset. We want that third spot."

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