Lee Johnson reveals damning Hibs stat and digs out Will Fish with LION analogy and lazy double downing

The Easter Road gaffer was unhappy at the attitude of his players int the opening day loss to St Mirren.

Lee Johnson has doubled down on his accusation Hibs were lazy on Sunday – and used Will Fish as damning evidence.

Johnson went on the attack in the aftermath of the 3-2 defeat to St Mirren on the opening day, insisting his stars didn’t do enough. And he has refused to back down ahead of the Europa Conference League clash against Luzern at Easter Road.

Johnson, who could hand £700,000 striker Dylan Vente a debut, said: “No one goes out to be lazy but fatigue makes cowards of us all. I thought for the third goal Will Fish could’ve got back in quicker. I looked on the GPS because I’m psychotic like that and he ran at 82 per cent of his maximum. So I asked him if a lion had been behind him, how much of his maximum would he have gone and he said 103 per cent, which I thought was quite funny.

“But it proves you have to do the work early and honestly. Will’s one of the most honest players we’ve got, he’s never shirked anything, but on that occasion he’s either underestimated the opponent’s opportunity and thought he could amble in or fatigue’s stopped him going as fast as he can. It’s about motivation and how much you want to get there.

“I don’t do it to dig anyone out and punish them. We have to learn from this. Will Fish is an example, he has to get in the rhythm of us, he came to us quite late from Manchester United where he didn’t have to run back in pre-season games. The bit I enjoy is looking back and actually coaching. It hurts badly but you get back on the horse and hopefully become a stronger team.”

Johnson, meanwhile, admits assistant Adam Owen has played a huge role in the preparations for the clash with Luzern after being on the coaching staff with Swiss side Servette - who faced Rangers - for three years until 2017. He added: “He’s the one who’s led on this game. “We have lead coaches in terms of analysis and it made sense to delegate this game to him with that knowledge he has of the Swiss game and Luzern in particular. But I’ve enjoyed studying them, it’s a good team to study, they all have nuances and quirks they’re very good at.”