Lee Johnson insists Hibs won't get Aston Villa free hit as boss maps out plan to plug £180m Conference League gap

Johnson has full belief in his players to do Scotland proud despite the financial gulf between the two sides.

Lee Johnson insists tomorrow’s Battle of Britain is no free hit for Hibs as he urged his players to mark his 500th game as a manager by shocking Aston Villa.

The Easter Road boss admits his side must be at the top of their game - with Liverpool’s 7-1 Champions League thrashing of Rangers last season a reminder of what could happen if they’re not. Not since Celtic’s 1-0 win over Manchester United in 2006 has a Scottish club triumphed against Premier League opposition.

But Johnson believes in his players’ ability to upset the odds against a Villa side he claims have a budget £180m more than his own. And the Englishman - who was at pains to stress he’s half Scottish through his mother’s side - wants his players to believe too ahead of the first leg of their Conference League play-off this evening. He said: “I don’t think you get a free hit with a club this size. The expectation is there and that’s a privilege of managing a big club

“We’re on the European stage now, we need to compete and compete well. Somebody told me it’s 17 years since a Scottish team beat an English team in European competition. We’re not going to take that pressure on this game, absolutely not, we’re just going to try to give the best possible account of ourselves.

“The reality is the two budgets are probably £180 million apart - at least! So, there’s a gap here that we’re going to have to try to bridge, and we’ll do that by effort, support from the stands, from individual brilliance on the day, and by believing in ourselves, to the point where that [the budget] is the least important factor in a game like this, because it’s 11 me against 11 men.”

Asked if Liverpool’s 7-1 win at Ibrox last season was a warning, Johnson continued: “Yeah, absolutely. That could easily happen. You’ve only got to look at the game at the weekend, they battered Everton.

“Everton are a good side with a multi-million pound squad and they completely controlled the game. On the flip side they went to Newcastle the week before and Newcastle, with their new spirit and new money and everything that goes with that, could have scored seven or eight.

“So there’s a balance where you have just got to do right by yourselves and give everything you possibly can. So you can look yourself in the mirror and go: ‘You know what? We’ve had a right go there.’

“We’re in it, we’re here on merit, we have earned this opportunity and what we don’t want to do is waste it. And every bit of influence that can aid them with that, and now I’m talking about the fanbase, gives us a big hand. I know they will because this is a big, big night for everyone. We’re sold out. This is what we want.

“It’s nice for me that this is my 500th game as a manager, and it’s a really nice tie to have that.

"We’re playing against top, top players and top, top athletes, and I think that’s the dynamic that means if you switch off you get punished. That’s why I talk about that total concentration and focus. If we can do that we give ourselves a chance.

“And in any underdog story, which we are in this one, that has to be the case. You’re not going to be able to coast in a game like this. You’re going to have to stretch the bar. That’s what I’m saying about the 100 per cent, you’ve got to go to 102, 103 - physically, mentally, technically, tactically. Then, hopefully, that improves our experience as a football club and we grow from within that.

Johnson, who managed Bristol City six times against Villa and never lost any of his three home clashes, led Hibs back into Europe in his first season as boss in Leith with a late charge to clinch fifth spot.

Now, after overcoming minnows Inter Club d’Escaldes before impressively dealing with Swiss side Luzern, comes the biggest test yet. He said: “I wanted a new experience, I wanted to feel that element of being half Scottish, if you like.

“I had been up to the SPFL a couple of times before and not really cracked it. But I loved the atmosphere and environment and the country itself.

“I feel at home here. And we worked so hard to get there last year. To go from eighth to fifth and nearly fourth and not a million miles off third, we worked so hard to do that. And I think this is the reward for the lads, this particular game.

“It’s to say for all that hard work at the end of last year and the start of this year, this is the showcase game that you are able to prove to the world you can compete at this level.

“We’ve raised up in standard. What has been nice is we had a poor first performance where we didn’t quite do ourselves justice (against Inter Escaldes) but we’ve steadily increased our performances in Europe and the percentile on and off the ball as we’ve moved into this game. There’s been a nice increase in those performances and we need to do that again to be able to have any chance of winning this game.”

Johnson may be an English-born boss managing a Scottish club in a Battle of Britain against an English side but he was keen to nail his colours to the mast.

He said: “I’m half-Scottish. I think people forget that. Don’t be deceived by the accent. If my nan and mum heard you call me just an Englishman they wouldn’t be happy.

“My allegiance is with Hibs. It’s as simple as that. We’ve worked extremely hard, there’s been many ups and downs in by short tenure at this club.

“But we’ve got ourselves into a position where we have to bring our best to give us every opportunity to try and progress to the next round.

“We’re not expected to win but that doesn’t mean we can’t win. Neither team is playing the history of a club. This is 11 humans against 11 humans.”