Lee Johnson has been selling his Hibs players a dream of competing with Celtic and Rangers. Now he hopes they are starting to buy itt after a 4-2 win over the Champions.
The Hibees kept their chances of overtaking rivals Hearts and finishing fourth alive with an impressive victory at Easter Road. Reo Hatate’s first half penalty was cancelled out by Elie Youan before Heyongyu Oh restored the visitors’ lead. Daizen Maeda then received his marching orders while VAR overturned a red card for Jimmy Jeggo. Kevin Nisbet levelled from the spot before another Youan strike and Paul Hanlon’s clincher settled matters.
Johnson was delighted his players went “toe to toe” with the best team in the country. And he admits he's been labouring the point to his men about taking points off the big two. It was a fantastic win and a big three points against a top team," he said. "The fans deserved that and it was nice to send them home happy. We have now set ourselves up for a shootout against Hearts on Saturday.
"We had chances in the first half and then executed the system fantastically in the second half. That wasn't a smash and grab win. We went toe to toe with the champions.
"We have had some good performances but that was right up there, considering the quality of the opposition. I am really proud of the players. They were fantastic.
"I've banged on about getting points off the Old Firm and this club deserves to be competitive in these games. I feel like we have been selling this dream and we have to have belief - and it has to build. Our next step is to secure Europe and we have that chance on Saturday."
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