Joe Newell insists he is 100 per cent confident Hibernian will recover from their ‘embarrassing’ defeat in Andorra to avoid a shameful early exit from Europe.
Hibs became the first Scottish club to lose to Andorran opposition when they slumped to a hapless 2-1 defeat to Inter Club d’Escaldes on Thursday.
It has led to stinging criticism for the Easter Road side, particularly from some of the 200 shocked supporters who had travelled to the Iberian principality for the first-leg of the second qualifying round tie.
And Newell admits the loss and lacklustre performance had been ‘unacceptable’ and that an apology to the angry travelling fans was warranted.
“It’s nowhere near good enough,” said the midfielder, whose injury-time free-kick should prove vital for the return leg on Thursday. “We were getting pelters walking off the pitch from the fans and rightly so.
“I imagine they’ve spent a good sum of money to [travel], so obviously we need to come out and say sorry to them. We know it’s absolutely not good enough.
“It’s unacceptable. We had really good preparation coming into this first competitive game. We had a really good pre-season and have been looking forward to this. The club has built up this European adventure we want to go on.
“But from the very start it wasn’t good enough. We didn’t set out the standard we want, never started with the intensity or style of play we want to play. From the get-go it wasn’t good enough.
“When the dust settles, it’s a bad loss. You can’t beat around the bush. It’s bad. It’s an embarrassing night for us.”
Newell refused to use the altitude, heat and small pitch - the three things manager Lee Johnson warned his side about - as an excuse for the defeat.
However, he is convinced the home comforts of the second-leg at Easter Road next Thursday will see Hibs overturn their single-goal arrears and progress to a third round qualifier against either Djurgårdens of Sweden or Swiss side FC Luzern
“I genuinely am not bothered about goals, never have been,” added the 30-year-old of his late counter. “But it does give us a chance and make it slightly easier.
“At 2-0, I would still have fancied us being at home. But a one-goal deficit makes it a little bit easier.
“I’m fully confident, 100 per cent confident. We know what they’re like now. We know the test they’ll bring. They’re obviously not going to come and roll over. I’m not saying we’re going to go back to Easter Road and win 3-0. It’s going to be a very, very tough game.
“But I know for a fact we won’t be as bad as what we were in the first-leg - especially tempo-wise, intensity-wise, aggression and all that stuff. We’re playing at home and want to play our way.”
Meanwhile, Newell has revealed goalkeeper David Marshall apologised to his team-mates at full-time for the blunder that gifted Inter a second goal.
The former Scotland number one inexplicably allowed a tame shot to squirm from his grasp to set up the waiting Jean Luc Assoubre for a simple tap-in.
“He came in, held his hands up and said: ‘Sorry lads, that was my fault’,” said Newell. “But these things happen. Every single player in the dressing room will make more than one individual mistake this season. Unfortunately for a goalie, they can do it once and it can lead to a goal.
“So, no, he doesn’t need to go on about it. No-one else needs to go on about it. He’s made a mistake. I will make plenty of mistakes this season. All of us will.”
