RYAN PORTEOUS has learned harsh lessons in the fledgling stages of his career. Paul Hanlon insists his red card against Rangers need not be added to his study list.
Porteous was dismissed for a lunging, dangerous challenge on Joe Aribo as the visitors - leading through Kevin Nisbet's early opener - were reduced to ten men on the half hour mark.
Steven Gerrard claimed the 22-year-old had let Jack Ross and his team-mates down with the moment of recklessness that allowed Rangers back into the tie as the champions went on to win 2-1 at Ibrox.
Ross refused to vilify Porteous in the aftermath of the Premiership loss and Hanlon believes the stopper will be able to brush off the latest incident that has seen him make headlines for all the wrong reasons.
“I don’t think he needs to learn from it," Hanlon said. "If we go back to his younger days a couple of years ago, he was doing two or three of those a game. He came in and he wanted to make those big tackles.
“He’s learnt as well, he’s learnt the way referees work, and he’s been clever in terms of picking and choosing when he makes big tackles.
"We all want to see big tackles, fans love seeing it, it’s part of the game, but it’s probably a bit more about learning how the game is refereed more.
“I think he probably had a reputation, but I don’t think [he has anymore]. Especially this season, his performances have been top class.
"It’s all been about Ryan Porteous’s defending and how good he’s been for us every week. I think that’s probably the main part to focus on.
“I think we all have chats as a defensive unit quite a bit. We go over all different aspects of the game.
"We all speak about things. It’s about learning from your mistakes, he’s still young, so he’s got plenty of time to learn. He’ll be fine.
“He’s gutted, aye, but he’s probably feeling a wee bit hard done by. The referee’s angle is probably the one where it looks the best tackle which is frustrating.
"It’s one of those things. It’s happened now. We dug really deep to try and get something from the game and it obviously wasn’t to be."
The loss of Porteous proved to be the turning point of the afternoon as Hibernian missed the chance to move above Rangers and Hearts and claim top spot in the Premiership.
It was the first time that Ross had seen his side beaten on league duty this term, though, and there are positives to be taken heading into the international break.
Hanlon said: “It’s disappointing. We’re really gutted.
"We worked so hard in the game, started the game so well on the front foot. We were aggressive, stealing the ball in good areas and hitting them on the break.
"We were looking strong at the back as well. We’re disappointed not to get anything from the game.
“You need moments of quality when you come here as well. We had that in the game. It was a great cross and a great header. It put us in a great position.
"We’re just disappointed we didn’t hold on, especially because we go down to ten men. 1-1 would have been a great result. To come away with nothing is obviously bitterly disappointing for how much work we put into it.
“It’s just about starting another run again. We knew it was going to be a difficult place to come but we were confident.
"We trained really well all week and were buzzing for it. We feel it’s probably a chance missed for us.
“We felt there was definitely something here for us. We need to put it behind us.
"We’ve got a bit of a break now, the boys will go away and play international games while the rest of us work hard."
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