Edinburgh Hibs player Nicky Cadden opens up on the pain of defeats in fan response

Hibs player Nicky Cadden says the team cares deeply after defeats, adding that he is often "unhappy for the next couple of days".

This comes after an injury-time penalty couldn't save the side, keeping David Gray's side nailed to the foot of the Premiership table. The defeat sparked an angry response from fans with notions that modern-day players 'don't suffer', reports the Daily Record.

Cadden, 28, said: “That’s the one thing that really annoys me.

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“Saying players don’t take it to heart because, oh, we play football, we’re in a good job, or we’re well paid. At the end of the day, if I win on Saturday, I’m happy.

"If I lose, I’m unhappy for the next couple of days and my Mrs gets the brunt of it. It’s probably harder for her because I’m not really nice to be around because I just shut myself off, I look deep into things.

“That’s me as a person and I’m sure everybody in there (dressing room) is the same. We’re not happy with performances. It’s not all sunshine and daisies and we know that.

"There’s a lot more lows in football than highs. Obviously we can say yeah we weren’t great, we can say that. But we care probably as much as everyone else."

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Cadden wasn’t going home to forget about it. Instead, he was preparing to suffer it all again in the hunt for solutions. He said: "I will watch the game probably. My missus will shout at me, but I need to.

"I feel like that’s what you need to do. You need to look at your performance individually first and then look at it as a collective.

"It’s not like we’re bouncing about happy about how the first 12 games have gone. We know it needs to be better and ultimately the gaffer does not deserve this."

Fans are also suffering and Cadden, along with the squad, applauded those backers who pay out their hard-earned. He said: “I feel like I always applaud the fans no matter the result. I’m sure fans won’t be happy. I know things are expensive these days as well so they are spending to come and see us and we are not performing, we are not giving it back to them. That is ultimately not good enough for this football club.”

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On the park, a lack of leadership appears to be a big problem. There seemed few willing to grab colleagues by the neck or bark some demands to get it going.

Cadden said: “I think we need a wee bit more of that if I’m honest. I think you need a wee bit of a bad side about you.

“Sometimes you don’t need that. Just run more than your opponent or whatever. I think we could do a wee bit more of that and demand more of each other. We’ve got a lot of experienced players. I feel as if I am one of the experienced guys as well.

“I’ve been around football a long time and I know when it is not good enough. That first half and then second half we huffed and puffed a wee bit, it’s just not good enough for this size of club to be where we are just now.”

Gray looked shocked afterwards with his position under huge scrutiny and Cadden said: “To be honest, he didn’t really need to say much. We know it’s not good enough. And we know he doesn’t deserve this. Since I’ve come to the club he’s been brilliant with me, brilliant with all the boys and we just need to give him better levels of performance and, ultimately, win games.”