Ryan Porteous has been told to show his class by Hibs boss ahead of what is sure to be a pumped-up Pittodrie when the Easter Road face Aberdeen on Friday night.
Dons gaffer Jim Goodwin launched a scathing attack on the Scotland international in the wake of his team’s defeat at Easter Road in September. Goodwin accused the defender of ‘conning’ referee David Dickinson over the penalty he won in a tussle with Liam Scales, which led to the Dons player being shown a second yellow card.
Goodwin is banned from the touchline for Aberdeen’s next two games after the club appealed against his initial six-game ban over the comments. Johnson said: “It's part of his progression dealing with hostile crowds. I don't know the mentality going into the game.
"You're telling me the home crowd will be hostile towards Ryan but he's just got to keep on doing what he's been doing; defend the box really well and make sure that outside the box he's showing his class and quality on the ball, his communication, good decision-making.”
Johnson, meanwhile, insists there are no hard feelings towards Goodwin over the remarks. He added: “As managers, we just want to win. We are working so hard under difficult circumstances a lot of the time. It’s tiring, you use so much energy, you have to have so much drive and it’s passionate.
“So sometimes you say things you don’t mean, sometimes you say things to justify something and sometimes you say things you do mean because you want to get it out. I’m sure Jim himself would have learned a lesson. I know Jim well from playing against him. We didn’t have contact after the game but I’m sure it won’t affect us when we see each other on Friday.”
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