Lee Johnson hints at further Hibs incomings as he has say on Edinburgh City friendly

Lee Johnson declared himself satisfied with Hibs’ pre-season friendly opener against Edinburgh City, in which the Premiership side came back from two goals down to record a 4-2 victory.

Former Easter Road youngsters Innes Murray and Ryan Shanley fired the Citizens into a two-goal lead but Elias Melkersen reduced the deficit when he headed in from close range. With an entirely changed XI on the pitch for the second half, Christian Doidge restored parity when he diverted Ewan Henderson’s shot on target and past Sam Ramsbottom and set up Dan MacKay for the third as Hibs took the lead for the first time. The Welshman added his second and Hibs’ fourth near the end to put some gloss on the scoreline.

Johnson used 24 players in total throughout the 90 minutes, including new signings Adam Le Fondre, Jordan Obita, and Jojo Wollacott.

“It was good to see Elias get a goal and Christian come back to score two. That’s what we asked for, so I was happy with it. We try to use these games like an extended training session. We had a theme and things we wanted to work on, so I felt that went well,” Johnson said afterwards.

Lee Johnson speaks to his players at half-time. Picture: Craig Williamson / SNS Group

“We had a double session on Friday and a lot of mileage in the legs. You can see the quality Le Fondre’s got in terms of the link play and his touch. His movement is excellent, he’s a bit like Sergio Aguero for us. He brings others into play and scores goals. He’s got great experience and he’ll help people through games. Jimmy Jeggo is the same, when you play with someone like that, they make other players better. We are always trying to develop leaders. The younger players can draw from the experienced ones and that’s important in any squad.”

Johnson gave 45 minutes to Rocky Bushiri, who missed most of the second half of last season through injury, but he will be without the centre-back for the first two league games following his red card in the aftermath of the fiery Edinburgh derby on the final day of the 2022/23 campaign. The Hibs boss was also sent off but escaped any action from the Scottish FA, who fined both clubs as well.

“Last season is behind us now and everything’s positive going into the new one. It’s not ideal Rocky is suspended but that’s why you saw Allan Delferrière stepping into that role against Edinburgh,” he continued.

Bushiri’s suspension will likely ramp up the search for central defensive incomings while Easter Road chiefs are still keen to add more quality to the first-team squad. Hibs remain hopeful of striking a deal to bring Will Fish back to the club from Manchester United but Johnson wouldn’t be drawn on talk linking Hibs with a move for Dundee United midfielder Dylan Levitt, saying only that he wouldn’t talk about ‘someone who isn’t our player’.

Hibs striker Adam Le Fondre crashes a header against the post during the pre-season friendly with Edinburgh City. Picture: Craig Williamson/SNS Group

“We do need a centre half in the building, and even more so now because of Rocky’s suspension, although he’ll be okay for Europe,” he added. “We want to bring players in but we also want to coach up and make players better too – it’s always difficult to put a number on it because there are so many different factors.”