Lee Johnson praises Hibs potential as manager provides injury update on Martin Boyle after win over St Mirren

Lee Johnson says he’s exciting by the potential at Hibs each and every morning after seeing his side defeat St Mirren 3-0 to move into third place in the cinch Premiership.

The Easter Road boss watched his players dismantle an opponent previously ahead of them in the table with Martin Boyle, Mykola Kuharevich and Ewan Henderson all getting on the scoresheet.

The victory ended a three-game losing streak which included losses to Dundee United and St Johnstone, two matches where Hibs played well enough to win but couldn't get to three points.

With Aberdeen also losing, Hibs now have a one-point lead in the much-coveted position which has the potential to guarantee at least eight games in Europe next season. And Johnson reckons there’s still more to come.

“I get up every morning and feel the potential at this club,” he said after the match. “I don’t feel this team is anywhere near finished what we can do. We have players to come back in, we have had to put players in at different points. And you start to see them build a connection.

"It was an important win for us today. We had lost three on the spin, although I don’t think our performances had deserved that.

“The lads had never lost confidence although it was a very frustrating week. We just wanted this game to come and it was a must-win game for us because we knew we could leap frog St Mirren and we wanted to stop the rot.

“We’ve maintained belief in what we were doing, there were some excellent performances on the pitch, five or six really outstanding ones.

Martin Boyle walks off the field following his substitution after picking up a second-half injury. Picture: SNS

"I feel we should have more points on the board although I know others will feel the same. We want to be successful here, we have a decent home record, we want to make it a fortress. We had a big home crowd last week and we let them down a bit, so this was the next opportunity to show them what we’re about.

“We played well, we could have been tight after missing chances but VAR was our friend, we got it at a good time and that made us a bit more relaxed and happy.

One negative in the victory was an injury sustained to Boyle, the scorer of the opening goal from the penalty spot and the club’s talisman. It was particularly worrying for the player to limp off shortly in the second period with a place at the World Cup with Australia less than a month away.

“I’m praying it’s not too bad,” said his manager. “I was very worried it was his knee but it’s not, it’s down the side, sort of the top of the shin. And we’re hoping the pain was contact to the nerve, because it went numb.

“That was what ended in him coming off but I’m lighting a candle for him tonight hoping he’s alright.

“It’s going to be difficult psychologically for him but I have to say his professionalism has been outstanding, he has never shirked anything in training or games. That’s why he deserves to go to the World Cup, for that consistency.”

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