Lee Johnson apologises to Hibs fans after St Mirren loss as he makes transfer admission

Lee Johnson issued an apology to the travelling Hibs fans after his side lost 1-0 to St Mirren at the SMiSA Stadium.

Lee Johnson applauds the travelling Hibs fans at the SMiSA Stadium

A sixth-minute goal by Keanu Baccus was enough for Stephen Robinson’s side, who might have won by a greater margin had it not been for a combination of the woodwork and poor finishing, while the Easter Road side struggled to create much in front of goal.

Speaking after the match, following nearly an hour locked in the dressing room with his players, Johnson expressed displeasure with the performance.

“I’ve got to be very careful what I say because the fans will be very disappointed, as am I, but there were certain elements of the game that, tactically, worked for us,” he said.

“We’re working really hard and today would’ve been a good result, propelled us to a good start to the season.

“But we’ve let ourselves down and the fans down – and I apologise for that.

"It does seem like there’s a a bit of a pattern repeating itself with this club. I was very disappointed. We’ve got to look deep at what we can do to turn it quickly – be organised, but also upgrade the quality.

"That isn’t easy. Good players make good decisions and for whatever reason we didn’t have enough good decision-makers on the pitch today.”

Johnson also played down Hibs’ chances of bringing in further additions to the squad – even with centre-back Rocky Bushiri now sidelined for at least two months with injury – admitting he didn’t envisage being “able to move much in the market”, adding: "It probably won't be a position where we can go and get a ready-made permanent [signing].

"The players have to step up, they have to demand for themselves. We just had all that in the dressing room.

"You can have all these call-to-arms conversations but sometimes you have to let the lads speak.

"The positive moments, like the comebacks and the first win, builds momentum and team spirit.

"Every negative, like today and Livingston, resets the rules. We have to make sure we drive it forward.

"Rightly we are going to get stick today. We deserve to own it; myself more than anybody because I pick the team.

"For whatever reason, not enough produced their best game today.”