Lee Johnston insists his Hibs side earned the right to celebrate for stopping the rot after a week of getting slaughtered.
The Easter Road gaffer eased the pressure with yesterday’s 3-2 win at Motherwell – where Kevin Nisbet bagged a lethal hat trick. Hibs players partied on the pitch and in the Fir Park dressing room but Johnston is hoping the victory will spark a charge back into the race for Europe after being written off in the wake of last week’s derby drubbing.
Johnson said: “The win was the most important thing. The way the other results went, it launches us back in touch and gets us away from where we don't want to be. I didn't think the boys played with a lack of confidence which I was really pleased with last week when we were all taking a bit of stick and rightly so. We celebrated, both players and staff in the dressing room, and I think we can really be successful this season but we’ve got to keep chipping away and getting our best players minutes and getting them fit and we have to do our best to drive the club forward on the training pitch and off the training pitch.”
Nibset’s treble made it five goals in five games since his return from almost a year out with a knee injury. Aiden McGeady also shone on his first league start for Hibs and Johnson believes he has the firepower to climb the table.
He said: “Remember those couple of games before the break when I was annoyed at myself and felt I maybe should have played him. That was the reason why. It allowed us to give him the extra month to hone his sharpness levels and I am really happy for him. You need your best platers fit at any club but especially at a club of our size. It becomes really important that those guys play and deliver.
“That's a dangerous front four and it will be good to get all these guys fully fit. There is nothing better, speaking as a former midfielder, when you can trust that when you get the ball into that area you have strikers who are clinical and who can be composed enough to close down their minds eye and finish.
“Where we are in the division there is still a lot of play for and next week becomes an important game as well then that is followed by the cup game but the more minutes we can get into the minutes, it will stand us in good stead to flourish and go on a bit of a run.”
Motherwell boss Steven Hammell admitted his side are now in a relegation scrap after more self-inflicted damage. The Steelmen face bottom side Ross County this week and the manager said: “We are involved in a fight with the teams round about us. That adds more pressure to next weekend and the players and myself need to stand up to that.
“The home form is why we are where we are at. Our away form is decent. We created enough in this game again to get something but we’ve fallen short at home again. It just adds to the importance of next week’s game which is massive.
“It’s not doing the basics well in terms of defending a cross. You don’t need to be an expert to see the goals we gave away today are basic fundamental mistakes.”
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