READY RESET GO
Lee: Sun will shine on Leith again
LEE JOHNSON insists Hibs are ready to hit the ground running against Rangers after using the World Cup break to press reset on their season.
Six defeats in their last seven league outings saw the Easter Road side plummet to eighth spot and fall five points behind Aberdeen in third.
Johnson admits he shares the supporters’ disappointment at the slump.
But he is adamant his side are “very close to where we want to be” as they prepare to return from the five-week break at Ibrox in three days’ time.
Key men, including Kevin Nisbet and Aiden McGeady, are ready for their first top-flight action under the new boss after lengthy spells out injured.
And despite the blow of losing Martin Boyle for the season to an ACL injury, Johnson is confident his squad is in a better place than it was last month.
He said: “Every break acts as a natural reset. We went into the break very disappointed and our fans would have felt the same with the results.
“We’re not shying away from that. I know where we are in this phase but I also know we are very close to where we want to be.”
Thursday’s clash will see Rangers boss Michael Beale make his competitive debut in the dugout at a ground Hibs have not won at since February 2018. But Johnson said: “The lads should look forward to it. They’re the boys out on the pitch, they’ve earned the right to play at this level and in games like this. It becomes an occasion because Michael has gone into Rangers as their new manager. “But we are well prepared. We have had good time to go into this game, we’ve known we’re playing Rangers next for three or four weeks and all parts of the preparation have been leading up to this. “It’s a really important one for us to put in a good performance.” Johnson is looking to streamline his bloated squad next month. With 28 first-team players, some will need to be moved on before he can bring in. But he said: “There are three different managers’ sets of players in there and the evolution of the squad – planning and succession, developing the young players – everything hopefully now sits in with my philosophy and one we believe will take us forward.”