Lee Johnson has called on Hibernian to replicate the intensity levels of last weekend’s Edinburgh derby victory as they try to prove they have “progressed” this season by sealing their place in the top six of the cinch Premiership.
A spirited 1-0 victory over city rivals Hearts means the Easter Road side can head to St Johnstone for their final pre-split fixture this Saturday knowing their fate is in their own hands.
As long as Hibs’ result in Perth is not bettered by that of seventh-place Livingston away to Dundee United, the Edinburgh side will play out the campaign in the top six and keep alive their prospects of competing in Europe next season.
“I’m always looking forward to it,” said Johnson when asked how he was viewing a potentially tense weekend. “I was looking forward to last weekend as well.
“We’ve got to be positive about this. We’re not going into it with any fear. It’s quite clear what we need.
“We need three points to secure top six, but we also need three points to do more than that, to get closer to particularly Aberdeen who are in third.
“Maintain the focus, really, is the message in its simplest form. There’s always a risk of the performance levels dropping after the Lord Mayor’s Show.
“The challenge is to see us perform in that way consistently. It’s about attitude, behaviour, forward-thinking, front-foot mentality. It doesn’t matter who we play that’s the type of performance we want to see.”
Johnson admits his first season at Easter Road has been “topsy-turvy” although Hibs currently have five points more than they did at the same stage last term, when they finished in the bottom six.
“It would demonstrate progression if we were to get into the top six,” said the manager. “It would demonstrate that players have now settled into the division after a big turnaround.
“We’re not the finished article by any stretch of the imagination. That consistency has to be there, a lot of teams have struggled with it this year. But we believe we can build on the positives we’ve got.”
Asked if making the top six would represent a success for Hibs in his first season, Johnson said he would prefer to go a step further and secure a European spot.
“Top five, I feel, would be a success,” he said. “I want to win things. I’m disappointed we got knocked out of both cups as early as we did. That won’t happen next year, there’s no doubt about that, because we know a lot more about it.
“There are signs there now, I can smell it. I understand what a successful club feels like, looks like, smells like and I see a lot of those positive signs here.
“Moving forward we’ve just got to keep making good and better decisions all the time, and results will come to us.”
