Lee Johnson claims Hibs were too hasty to bin him as he bigs himself up and insists his pencil is now sharpened

Axed boss is already back in work at Fleetwood Town.

Lee Johnson insists he should have been given more time at Hibs - claiming the heavy European schedule was to blame for the club’s Premiership woes.

Easter Road chiefs pulled the trigger on Johnson two weeks ago after a third league defeat from the opening three games left them bottom of the table. Johnson led the club back into Europe last season with a fifth placed finish and to a moneyspinning Conference League double header against Aston Villa after impressively dumping Swiss side Luzern over two legs.

But that couldn’t save his job after the torrid start to the league season. The 42-year-old is already back in football after being appointed Scott Brown’s successor at Fleetwood Town this week while Hibs have appointed Nick Montgomery as his replacement in Leith.

But asked if he thinks he should have got more time he told Sky Sports: “Yes of course I do. I put in a lot of work in the season previous. We took over the team who finished eighth and it was a big job to take that club to fifth. There’s a lot of players who were not good enough in the building. We had good windows and made good sales.

“It’s a great club Hibs, fantastic fanbase, really historic and I absolutely loved my time there. I just believe I would have turned it round and I should have had more time.”

Johnson won 20 of 52 games in charge at Hibs and added: “It came as a shock. What a whirlwind, three weeks ago I was helping guide the team to the best win in Europe in 30 years against Luzern that led to the Aston Villa game which was a big money spinner.

“I put the league form honestly down to the fact that it was a big ask physically for a squad like Hibs to go Thursday-Sunday-Thursday-Sunday when the SPL side is fresh.

“It’s difficult. The physical numbers dropped, that’s why I’m disappointed I didn’t get longer in terms of the league season.

“But this is football and it sharpens your pencil to realise you can talk development and club philosophy and club stability but you’ve got to win football matches and that’s what I want to do here.”