Hibs boss Lee Johnson 'massively disappointed' after Falkirk defeat but says players know why they were poor

Hibs boss Lee Johnson branded his side’s performance in their 1-0 defeat by Falkirk ‘poor’ as he admitted he will go back to the drawing board ahead of Sunday’s trip to SPFL new boys Bonnyrigg Rose.

Lee Johnson pictured at the Falkirk Stadium

Aidan Nesbitt’s looping header shortly before the interval was enough for the Bairns, who withstood a second-half onslaught from the visitors to record three points.

Elias Melkersen hit the post with a late header, Christian Doidge had a goal ruled out for a foul, and Ewan Henderson had a shot cleared off the line as Hibs drew a blank.

Speaking afterwards, Johnson insisted his players knew why the performance had been so undercooked.

“I’m massively disappointed. It wasn’t good enough. It was just poor but we will go back to the drawing board.

"We were happy to make changes, we were a lot stronger and better in the second half. We were good up to a point but maybe lacked finesse in the final third.

"We went for it went 1v1 at the back for a large period and that’s difficult to deal with and risky. We upped our game trying to get a point to take it to penalties and we couldn’t quite do that but threw everything at it trying to.”

Johnson is still getting to know his squad and how they perform in different situations, and he suggested he will put this loss down to a ‘45-minute blip’.

"I’ve learned a lot in a very good three or four weeks. What we don’t want is too many halves like that because we’re keen to build that credit and trust with the fans. It’s up to us to deliver and we didn’t first half,” he added.

"But we must give Falkirk credit – they out-enthused us. We got stuck in areas of the pitch; down the right we were distinctly average and gave too many sloppy ones away. These are areas we can go and work on.

"I picked a team to win the first half but every moment of every day I’m with these lads I’m learning what they can do – how they bounce back, their emotive play when the fans turn in two or three minutes. The dust settles then you tend to select your best 11.”