Hibs verdict: International break coming at the right time to allow team to regroup

After weeks of lady luck deserting Hibs, she appeared to have made the trip to the north-east when Chris Cadden’s cross was finished off by Aberdeen defender Calvin Ramsay past his own goalkeeper to give the visitors a 20th-minute lead.

But she either stopped smiling, or left the ground early, as that was about as good as it got for a Hibs side that hasn’t had a great time of it at Pittodrie in recent years.

Two penalties – one controversial – and a red card that Hibs will appeal, and a killer third with ten minutes to play made it a grim afternoon in the Granite City and Marc McNulty’s late winner for Dundee United, who are next up at Easter Road after the international break, pushed the Terrors into fourth place at the expense of Hibs.

Given the bonkers nature of the middle positions in the Scottish Premiership, with teams jostling for positions like punters on a night out trying to attract the attention of the bartender, anything less than a win could leave Hibs needing three points at Tynecastle in the final game before the split to achieve fourth or, whisper it, top six and although they’ve enjoyed a marginally better record across Edinburgh than they have against Aberdeen, it’s the sort of nightmare scenario that players and manager will want to avoid.

It seems cliched to refer to the games against United and Hearts as cup finals but that’s how Hibs may have to treat them.

At the time of writing we don’t know if Hibs will have Ryan Porteous available for selection. The club are set to appeal his red card against Aberdeen, and Shaun Maloney issued a staunch defence of the 22-year-old after the match.

"The referee got the decision wrong so I don't think that should be any reflection on what we think about the