Johnson hails win as Hibs chases European place
Manager Lee Johnson praised Hibernian for holding its nerve to see out a crucial 2-1 victory over St Mirren after admitting its “dominant” first-half performance “fizzled out” after the break.
Goals from on-loan duo Elie Youan and Will Fish gave the Hibees a deserved 2-0 lead at the interval before St Mirren threatened to claim a point in the closing stages after Alex Greive pulled one back.
“I thought we made hard work of it in the second half, we should have had more control than we did,” Johnson, whose fifth-placed side closed to within a point of city rival Hearts in the battle for European places, said.
“We didn’t dominate the midfield at all and in the first half we were very dominant.
“A lot of the stuff we worked on through the week was executed to perfection (in the first half). I thought the ball speed and our passing and movement was good and we had good opportunities in the first half.
“In the second half, for whatever reason, we just fizzled out. Not enough were on their game but we continued to work hard.
“We shuffled the pack and changed the shape to cope with a St Mirren side who were throwing caution to the wind after the poor goal we conceded and in the end it was good to see it out. Even in injury time I think we managed it quite well.
“Overall it’s a great win for us, it’s an important win because of that fifth place but also we’re now chasing down everybody ahead of us.”
Hibs lost Jake Doyle-Hayes to a head knock in the first half and Johnson admitted the midfielder will need to be assessed.
“Hopefully he’s OK,” the manager said. “He had quite a nasty bump on the side of his head.
“I just hope it’s not concussion, firstly for him but also for us because he’s an important player. I thought he was outstanding until he went off.”
