Collins wants aggressive streak in play

HIBS boss John Collins today urged his players to add a more aggressive streak to their play as they bid to get back to winning ways.

The Easter Road side have received plenty of plaudits this season for their passing, attacking style and have been credited with generally playing an entertaining brand of football.

However, against Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Sunday this wasn't enough for them to take anything from the game as the Dons battled and scrapped for everything, eventually being rewarded with a 3-1 victory.

With Dundee United, Hearts and Celtic all dropping points over the weekend, the defeat was a blow to Hibs who could have cemented their position in third place in the SPL with at least a point.

Collins plans to sit down this week and analyse footage of the weekend clash to see where the game was lost although he has already identified the need for his players to be more physical in their approach.

"We've got lots of young players in our side and as long as we can learn from our mistakes and improve then that's all you can ask for," said Collins.

"We will sit down and look at where things went wrong for us and see how we can rectify them.

"Sunday was a combination of things that we need to work on, including defending crosses into the box.

"We worked all of last week on that so we will have to take another look at that. I don't think we were aggressive enough going into tackles and we can improve in all areas of the pitch. We didn't carry enough threat at the top end and we didn't defend well enough either. Our possession and passing wasn't how it should be."

Patrick Noubisse was part of the squad which travelled to Pittodrie and the player warmed up with the rest of his team-mates before the match despite not making the cut.

The Frenchman has spent the last three months on loan at Livingston - an agreement struck between the clubs after Collins pipped former Hibs caretaker manager Mark Proctor to his signature. He returned to Easter Road just last week and was part of the 19 who travelled north for Sunday's game. The player was involved in the pre-match routine with the rest of the first-team squad, including when they were put through their paces out on the pitch before kick-off.

Collins feels that it is vital to give the younger players at the club a taste of what it is like to be involved with the top team and added: "Patrick was part of the squad, although he didn't make the final 18, but he was in the dressing room and out on the pitch warming up with the rest of the lads.

"It's good for him to feel involved and it's something that we have done in the past with the Under-19s players or some of the younger lads who have just missed out on a place on the bench.

"It's just to give him a wee feel for it and hopefully it will benefit him when he does become involved with the side."