There is no easy way back for Hibs

season.

Lavety, who spent five years there with St Mirren, said every other team would treat the Easter Road club as ''the Rangers of the first division''.

The striker also gave an indication of what was in store for the Hibs players in next season's matches.

''I played nearly 160 games in the first division with St Mirren and certainly did not want to go back there so soon,'' said Lavety, who scored 48 goals during his five-year stint with the Paisley club.

''A club like Hibs should not be in the first division and we have to make sure that it is just in the short term.

''People forget that it's not like the premier division where Rangers and Celtic are always up there.

''In the first division there usually isn't that much between the teams at the bottom and teams at the top.

''Teams will treat us like the Rangers of the first division and come here to a big stadium, with a great crowd, and get a lift from it and try to beat us.

''I have enjoyed playing for the last two seasons in the premier division and I'm gutted that we are now going to be playing in the first division.''

Like the rest of the Hibs team, Lavety trooped back on to the park after the defeat by Dundee United to acknowledge the fans who had waited behind.

''I felt a bit awkward doing that,'' said Lavety. ''I felt I had let them down.''

Certainly, the groundwork for letting the fans down had been laid long before Lavety and the present Hibs team took to the field for the match. It was sacked manager Jim Duffy who had been at the helm for most of the season, and some would say that Alex McLeish's task was an almost impossible one when he took over.

Even so, Hibs must address their lack of firepower in the side and, although Lavety and Stevie Crawford put in a power of running, there were not many chances created.

The other front player, Tony Rougier, flattered to deceive against Dundee United as he has done in so many games this

season.

For the conspiracy theorists among the Hibs fans who believe that there has to be a last-minute league restructuring to make a premier division of 12, there were words of support from United manager Tommy McLean.

McLean said that he believed the division was too cut-throat and not a breeding ground for the encouragement of young players and he advocated increasing its size from next season, possibly to 12.

''I had been thinking about saying that for a while,'' said McLean, ''but I felt that people might think it was just because of where we were stitting in the league.

''People forget that apart from Rangers and Celtic every other team has been in a bit of relegation difficulty this year.

''To have that pressure is not good for young players, people like Grant Brebner, at Hibs, and our Craig Easton.

''The premier division has outlived its usefulness and is putting provincial clubs at risk.

''How is it going to be any better with 10 teams again next year?

''We are sitting with a 10-team criteria for next season with a 12- team league a few years after. Why wait that time, what good will it do?''

McLean certainly wore his heart on his sleeve during the match and had his most ani-mated 90 minutes of the season as he shouted instructions, gesticulated to players, and more than once held his head in his hands.

He must have thought that he was in for the same sort of pressure next Saturday against Rangers when Brebner put Hibs ahead in the first-half. The 20-year-old has been the shining light in the Easter Road side in recent weeks, since he arrived on loan from Manchester United.

Although McLeish wants to sign him, their relegation will make it very difficult for him to convince the youngster to stay bearing in mind that he has been at Old Trafford since leaving school.

For their part, United were worthy of at least a point, but possibly not a victory. Their commitment could not be faulted, especially by their defence which was well marshalled by Maurice Malpas and Steven Pressley, who if he joins Hibs next season which has been suggested, will not be terribly popular in the dressing room after such a good performance against them.

He snuffed out any attacking moves up the middle and only runs from deep by Pat McGinlay and Justin Skinner caused him any problems.

Perhaps the turning point

was the injury to Skinner who had controlled the Hibs midfield.

After he went off they lost their shape and sloppy defending allowed Kjell Olofsson to equalise 18 minutes from time after Gary McSwegan had

been allowed too much time on the ball near the Hibs penalty area.

His cut-back found Olofsson unmarked and, although it looked a simple chance, having so much time can sometimes be a curse, especially when your premiership survival depends on it. His second, six minutes later, did not need any sort of composure as it looked a rather meekly-hit effort which squeezed in behind Bryan Gunn.

From then on in it was all over and as Hibs fans headed for the exits they only had distant memories of past glories to remind them of how far this once great club had fallen.

Next league matches: Hibs - Kilmarnock (a). Dundee United - Rangers (h).