Lee Johnson urges Hibs individuals to 'get their bodies and minds right' ahead of Dundee United trip

Hibs manager Lee Johnson believes there are individuals in his team who need to ‘get their bodies and minds right’ after Saturday’s dismal defeat by Motherwell.

The Easter Road side enjoyed the bulk of possession but could muster just three attempts on target while the Steelmen managed five, and 17 shots in total, with Sean Goss and Kevin van Veen scoring direct free kicks and the Dutch striker adding another from the penalty spot. Kevin Nisbet was on target for Hibs with his ninth goal in 11 games but it was a mere consolation as Stuart Kettlewell notched his second win as ‘Well manager.

Johnson said after the game that he ‘didn’t see the performance coming’, having lined up his side with a three-man defence after weeks of playing a back four.

"I feel like individuals have to get their bodies and their minds right. We had a good training week ahead of Motherwell but I can’t accept Saturday’s performance, and I won’t accept it,” the Hibs boss said. “I did all I could in terms of personnel and shape changes in a bid to get us a foothold in the game. It makes picking a starting XI more difficult but I haven’t lost faith in the individuals or the team,” he added.

Lee Johnson watches on from the directors' box with chief executive Ben Kensell during Hibs' 3-1 defeat by Motherwell

"It’s been a bit choppy in terms of trying to get a level of consistency going and flowing but hopefully that’s a bad out out of the system and we can turn up at Dundee United much more positively."

United won the last encounter in the City of Discovery with Aziz Behich’s early goal the difference, although Mykola Kukharevych had a goal controversially chalked off in the pre-VAR days. The Tannadice outfit are currently propping up the cinch Premiership table, two points off 11th and six behind safety but Hibs are targeting three points with not only a top-six place at stake, but a chance of qualifying for Europe as well, having missed out on both the top six and continental competition last season.

"We finished eighth last year and we need to improve on that,” Johnson continued. “Seventh would be an improvement but we need to make sure, pre-split, that we're in the top six, and then we need to make sure we compete for Europe.”