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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Ewan Paton

Lee Johnson on Hibs' desire to avoid TV 'embarrassment' vs Celtic

Lee Johnson insists Hibs will do everything they can to avoid any embarrassment in front of the TV cameras against Celtic.

The Edinburgh side host the Hoops tomorrow night at Easter Road.

Ange Postecoglou's side are beginning to hit their stride once more as they hit St Johnstone for four on Christmas Eve.

They've already dished out a hammering to Hibs this campaign, as they defeated Johnson's men 6-1 in Glasgow back in October.

And Johnson admits the fear of being embarrassed in front of a TV audience will help to spur his team on to compete with the champions.

That said, the Englishman insists he won't deviate from his principles of believing in attacking football - especially in a home match.

He doesn't expect any plaudits should Celtic run over the top of his team. But he knows Hibees fans will at least respect the team having a go at the Hoops.

Johnson said: “Celtic are a top side, I enjoy watching them, in terms of the dynamism and the movement. But, when you are coaching, the challenge is to find a way to take points off them.

“How you do that? How you set them up? How you give the boys confidence? You are playing at home, so the fans have to be part of the performance and all these things have to be at elite level if you are to beat or get a result against a side like that.

“The mind also focuses because there is a fear element that makes you track runners that little bit more. It’s on Sky and you don’t want to be embarrassed, so there are all these various factors that go into the arousal levels of a game and what becomes important.

“You have seen other teams, in recent games, not really trying to get out of their half, hoping to somehow handle a draw. And perhaps strangely, everyone that I bump into that are Hibs fans respect the fact that we tried to have a go at Parkhead, despite losing 6-1.

“No-one wanted the result but they respected the attitude. So we have to turn the dial depending on the opposition but still try to hang on to our values and principles as much as we can within that game.

“It’s funny because we played Celtic and there were a lot of individual mistakes in that game but they also cut through us far too many times. Then we went to Rangers having been working hard on being world class in that mid-block and then still having the potential to counter.

“The proof will be in the pudding. The next time we play we will be at home, but we are always learning.”

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