Lee Johnson believes an Edinburgh derby victory that would guarantee European football and see Hibernian leapfrog rivals Hearts in the Premiership table would be the “cherry on the top” of his side’s comeback campaign.
The Easter Road outfit’s surprise 4-2 defeat of Celtic on Wednesday saw them move to within two points of Hearts and to within one more win of supplanting their capital foes in fourth place in the table.
Tomorrow’s head-to-head at Tynecastle now carries more than just the usual city bragging rights, as Hearts attempt to prevent the possibility of saying goodbye to third in the table and then losing fourth within the space of three costly days.
For Hibs, where Johnson’s job appeared to be on the line just a matter of weeks ago, there is now the tantalising prospect of a significant victory if they can dig out one last big performance to match their Celtic success.
Even their current fifth will be good enough for continental competition unless Inverness Caley Thistle pull off a major shock and win the Scottish Cup final against Celtic.
“I feel if we were to get into Europe we’d have done that anyway,” said Johnson of trying to change the narrative of his team’s season. “But this would be the cherry on the top of the cake of what I would call the comeback, or turnaround, or whatever you want to call it.
READ MORE: Hibs 4 Celtic 2: Instant reaction to the burning issues
“It has been a difficult job, this. It’s been difficult in terms of all the bits we have talked about previously, the discipline, the professionalism. But we have really got it going.
“And that’s why when you get beaten by Rangers you take it hard. But then three days later you put in a performance like that against Celtic. It proves to the players, most importantly, but also the fans, all the work everyone is putting in is bearing fruit.”
Hibs arrested a nine-game winless streak in the derby with their 1-0 victory over Hearts last month but Johnson accepts the trip across the capital to Tynecastle presents a completely different challenge.
As a former Hearts player, he is fully aware there will be a red-hot atmosphere awaiting him and his players but has revealed they had a novel way of ensuring their preparations remained cool after drafting in a mobile cryotherapy lab for training yesterday as players were exposed to the benefits of extreme cold temperatures.
“I brought that in from the ‘war fund’ the club give me to dip into every now and again,” he added. “I felt it was a good little addition, not just for recovery and rejuvenation in terms of the body, but it also helps with sleep. Go in there a couple of times and it guarantees you sleep.”
Meanwhile, Hibs have announced that former striker Gareth Evans has been promoted to become the club’s new academy director to replace Steve Kean, who has departed for a managerial job in Georgia.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel