Hibernian's poor run of form continued as they slipped to a demoralising 3-0 Edinburgh derby defeat to neighbours Hearts in a cinch Premiership fixture at Tynecastle this afternoon.

The Hibees looked bright in the opening minutes but a couple of significant defensive errors quickly resulted in the game turning in opponents Hearts' favour.

From the moment that Hibs defender Will Fish's error gift-wrapped Hearts the opener, there was only ever going to be one winner. Fish handed over possession when under pressure and while Josh Ginnelly's initial effort was saved by David Marshall, prolific forward Lawrence Shankland was on-hand to fire home the loose ball.

A hand ball from Hibs defender Rocky Bushiri later in the half resulted in Hearts being awarded a penalty kick. The ever-reliable Shankland stepped up to the spot and successfully converted to put his side 2-0 up.

Hibs at least stood up to the challenge in the second half and they had most of the attacking play but it was a case of too little, too late for the Easter Road side with the game already beyond them.

There was one final kick in the teeth for Lee Johnson and his side deep in second half stoppage time when a breakaway move resulted in Stephen Humphrys netting the third goal for the hosts. That goal rounded-off a sorry afternoon for Hibs who have now lost six of their last seven matches in the cinch Premiership.

  • Johnson so frustrated by Hibs' mediocrity

When speaking in the post-match press conference, Hibs boss Johnson admitted that he is sick of constant mediocrity from his players while he bemoaned his side's poor first half performance at Tynecastle.

"In the first half, we were way below par, mediocre is a too higher word for it," Johnson said. "We didn’t tidy up play, we didn’t have the gravitas in the game to be able to settle the ball, to tidy up, the ball was like a hot potato.

"To be honest, I’m sick to death of the mediocrity, we need to move players out in the transfer window.

"This club is a wonderful club which is full of potential, a good fanbase, a great training ground, a brilliant stadium and it deserves more. We’ve got to make way better decisions all over the place because today showed exactly where we are in my opinion.

"At 2-0 down, we start playing. You’ve got to try and be the best player on the pitch, you have to show the mentality to be the best player on the pitch at 0-0."

  • Hibs must begin to produce in the big moments

Hibs had their chances in the game. Elie Youan spurned a great opportunity at the end of the first half while Kyle Magennis somehow failed to convert in the final minutes of the contest. Johnson knows that his side must begin to make the most of their chances in front of the opposition goal.

"There’s no doubt that there were key moments in the game," he said. "Were there loads of key moments in the game? No. If you look at the stats and the data, it was probably really close, they were more clinical than we were.

"We can’t keep getting into the final third as much as we do (without scoring). If you look at our stats of shots, entries into the final third and crosses, we are right up there but the most important action is the final action and the whole season, we have been nowhere near good enough in that sense.

"That’s the difference because you’ve got to take those moments at key times and then you at least have the opportunity to change the game."

  • Senior players must step up to the challenge

Johnson went on to say that the club must look to offload some of their under-performing players this month while others need to step up to the mark in the coming weeks.

"We need outs, the outs are as important as the ins with the mediocrity that we have got," Johnson said. "I’m being honest, I’m in a place where I have to come out swinging in terms of not disrespecting players but decisions haven’t been good enough and we need to be better.

"I’m desperate for us to do well for the fans and the club and we can, we are not a million miles off. One, two, three good players (in) and five, six, seven, eight, nine or ten outs doesn’t matter to me. I’d rather have the quality in the XI and bump up the young players. They’re not quite ready yet the young players that we have at the club in terms of the physical nature but we do have some quality players in there. That will serve us well in 18 months to two years’ time.

"The senior players have to step up, we can’t keep being average at best. For a club like this, it is just not good enough, everybody needs to tell themselves the home truths. You need to act like a player at a big club and have that bottle to produce, not only in training but in games."