Alan Stubbs hopes his Hibernian players will rise to the remaining challenges facing them this season after they shrug off the pain of their League Cup final defeat.

A last-minute goal from Alex Schalk gave Ross County victory at Hampden after Liam Fontaine had drawn the Easter Road men level following Michael Gardyne's opener.

Hibs had the better of the first 45 minutes and got their reward in stoppage time through defender Fontaine. But the centre back failed to properly clear Gardyne's cross to allow Schalk to score the winner.

Stubbs' men now face a Scottish Cup quarter-final replay away to holders Inverness CT on Wednesday before resuming their bid for promotion to the Premiership.

Reaching the top flight is likely to be through the play-offs with Rangers holding a significant advantage in the Championship title race.

Despite going down late at the national stadium, Stubbs believes the capital men can bounce back and achieve their aims for the season.

He said: "As you would expect they [the players] are all really disappointed right now but they've still got so much still to play for.

"Today is a big disappointment, it would be wrong for me to say anything otherwise especially in front of our fans who were magnificent.

"They've [the fans] been fantastic from day one, we're just disappointed we couldn't send them home victorious. It just wasn't to be I'm afraid."