After a disappointing defeat at home to Ross County in midweek, Lee Johnson is determined to get a reaction out of his players against Kilmarnock in what is our final match before the World Cup winter break kicks in.
The result means we slip to seventh in the cinch Premiership after a promising start to the season, but with two points separating third and eighth place, it is all to play for.
In the lead-up to the weekend’s match with Kilmarnock, Johnson explained how he hopes to get his side back to winnings ways.
“That is the most important thing for us is we need to pick the players up. You have to show support, you have to show that we believe in them – which we do.
“They have to understand why they are in the team, why they are at the Club and what they bring to the squad.
“We want to see grit and determination. That can come across on the pitch in a number of ways; winning your tackles, winning your headers and winning your individual battles. It is also about having the mental strength and capability to go and produce our best actions when it matters most.
“The last action is always the most important one, in any move. So there is a big focus on that. We’ve got a point to prove, when you go to these places, you need to be solid and go back to basis – that should be the foundation of our performance.
Kilmarnock currently sit bottom of the cinch Premiership having picked up 12 points from their first 15 games. Johnson admits that although he is expecting a tough challenge from the home side, the main focus is on ourselves.
“It will be a difficult challenge as all the games are in this league. To be honest, our challenge is on ourselves. We need to focus on ourselves, what we can do better; what we do well and make sure we implement that to the best of our ability.
“The opposition almost becomes irrelevant in that sense – they will try and play their style and win the game but we will be making sure we do the basics extremely well which will give us a platform to be creative in the final third.”
In terms of team news, the Hibees will be without Martin Boyle, Harry McKirdy, Aiden McGeady and Kevin Nisbet who are all making their way back to full fitness after injury.
Johnson also gave an update on Kyle Magennis and Demetri Mitchell who both picked up minor injuries.
“Demetri came off with a bit of a calf issue (on Tuesday) and a bit of a fitness issue as well as he wasn’t at 100%.
“Kyle Magennis has had a very slight hamstring strain, which we got the scan results back today. So he is likely to be 1-2 weeks off his feet with that.”
