Dundee manager Jim McIntyre blamed both individual errors and wrong refereeing decisions for their 4-2 home defeat to Hibs.
The visitors took the lead thanks to poor defending from Dark Blues defender Genseric Kusunga, with Florian Kamberi capitalising, but Paul McGowan levelled with a fine finish. Man-of-the-match Marc McNulty made it 2-1 at the break.
The Easter Road men then pulled clear, with McNulty grabbing his second and Stevie Mallan’s adding an excellent fourth. Martin Woods scored with 11 minutes to go for Dundee to make it 4-2.
McIntyre felt, though, that his team should have had a penalty from ref John Beaton when Ryan McGowan was fouled by Mark Milligan at a corner early on, while he also thought McNulty deserved a red card for kicking McGowan.
On top of that, he felt one of substitute Kenny Miller’s chalked off goals – the first one – was onside.
McIntyre said: “We played a huge part in it (the result) because individual errors have cost us and Hibs punished us.
“When you do that its always going to be hard.
“Hibs are a good side. They were better in the first half and their wingers caused us a lot of problems.
“We were slow to move the ball but the reaction in the second half was excellent.
“I do think we should have had a stonewall penalty when Ryan McGowan was dragged to the deck, and there could have been a red card for McNulty when he flicks out with his boot.
“The TV pictures are pretty conclusive.
“Also, Kenny Miller’s goal looked onside so things haven’t gone our way.
“I was still proud of the way we played but you can’t give away the kind of goals we did.”
New Hibs boss Paul Heckingbottom, who saw his side move into the top six ahead of St Johnstone on goal difference with this victory, was well satisfied with the scoreline.
He said: “I am pleased with the win because we had the right sort of effort and honesty – that’s all you can ask for.
“We can pick holes in the performance in how we played because you can always improve and get better but the message of playing on the front foot, being positive and trying to create is important.
“I wasn’t happy with the strikers in the first 20 minutes and they knew that, but they know how we want to play in that shape and what they need to do.
“I knew there was plenty to work with before I came in and I can see it for myself now.
“The top six is in our hands and, while we can’t control what the other teams do, we can focus on ourselves and keep pushing.
“There are six games to go until then so we will just look to make our performances better and see where we are after those matches.”
