Lee Johnson has revealed that Rocky Bushiri has turned down the chance to leave Hibs - as he heaped praise on the defender for his hard-work during pre-season.
The 22-year-old arrived last season on loan from Norwich City under former boss Shaun Maloney, with the deal being made permanent in the summer but it wasn't met with a positive note from a number of the Easter Road supporters. The reaction is believed to have left the defender upset and he looked for advice over the situation. However, he received a good welcome from the travelling fans at the warm-weather training camp in Portugal and has impressed new boss Johnson.
Competitive action is set to return for Hibs tomorrow as they host Clyde in their Premier Sports Cup opener with the minimum aim to reach the last 16 of the competition ahead of the Premiership campaign kicking off at the end of the month. Confirming Bushiri had rejected the chance to leave, Johnson said: "I have been impressed with his capacity to learn in a difficult scenario.
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"He has turned down a couple of moves.
"He is very keen to park his place and I’m very keen for him to park his place."
Speaking to Edinburgh Evening News, he continued: “He is a good lad who still needs that bit of love. But we do that with all our players; they are all our kids, in terms of equals.
“When I looked at Rocky I was thinking to myself, ‘in terms of your football development, you’re probably three or four years younger than your actual age but you’re physically so big and strong that people expect you to be the finished article’.
“If Rocky had come through our youth academy, then the difference in how people perceived him would be massive but in football, unfortunately, perception is reality. I think we have helped him.
"We have worked on his first touch to open up the options to the full-back, or rap it between the lines, or drop and drive. Simplifying his game.
"We don’t want Rocky on the ball as much as we want Ewan Henderson on the ball. He needs to just be the security, the protection, for the team.”
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