Lee Johnson wants to take Jekyll and Hyde Hibs to next level as Rocky Bushiri vows to overturn 'soft' accusations

To assess Hibs at the moment is no straightforward task. It would feel harsh to suggest the Easter Road side is underachieving, but one would have to be of the glass half-full tendency to rate them higher than a 6/10 so far this season.

But manager Lee Johnson remains unruffled by the Jekyll and Hyde nature of a team that swept St Mirren aside 3-0 and then contrived to lose 4-1 to Aberdeen despite dominating most of the first half. He has seen enough from his team so far to feel reassured that the project is heading in the right direction.

"What I would like to do is try to take us to the next level," says Johnson, as he looks ahead to the cinch Premiership clash with Ross County at Easter Road on Tuesday night.

"The lads understand the philosophy of play now but we just need to start thinking a little bit smarter on the pitch. I think we have the players who can do it and it will be interesting to see whether we can implement these things.

“It’s probably been a bit more of a dictatorship up to now, based on the way I want to play. I think the boys understand it and I want them to solve the problems in the games now.

"We can be there to guide them but I need to encourage young lads like Nohan Kenneh, an important player for us, to have a voice to make sure these solutions on the pitch are being taken by them based on the principles of how we play."

That’s not to say the manner of Friday night’s defeat hasn’t been eating away at Johnson. He criticises individual errors and hints at changing things to deal with the Staggies. He expects them to be in a buoyant mood following their 3-2 victory over St Mirren in Dingwall at the weekend but is more concerned with getting his team back on the right path.

“There’s always the opportunity to shuffle the pack. I consider every player in every game. It’s the right thing to do so that when a player knocks your door and ask why he’s not playing then you have a genuine consideration for him. If not they shouldn’t be in the squad,” he explains.

Lee Johnson speaks to the media ahead of Hibs' home game against Ross County

“We have a plan. I just want to keep us moving on the right track. I feel like at times we’re letting ourselves down, like two steps forward and one back, or one forward and one back. I need it to be three or four forward and none back.”

Meanwhile, Rocky Bushiri insists the collective hurt felt at Pittodrie can help Hibs to return to winning ways against Malky Mackay’s team. The Belgian defender performed well on an individual basis against the Dons but couldn’t disagree with Johnson’s complaint of his team having a ‘soft underbelly’.

"The goals were soft, so he didn't lie about it. It is what it is,” the 22-year-old agrees. "Nothing will change after the game. When you rewatch videos and clips, you always think, 'we could have done this or that', but it's over now.

"Exactly, and especially because we conceded the second goal so quickly after half-time.

Rocky Bushiri is enjoying life at Hibs after changing manager Lee Johnson's mind

"When you rewatch the game, we didn't think we played that badly but we didn’t take our chances, and if you don’t concede you can avoid the feelings of hurt that we had.

"We were very disappointed. A loss like that really hurts hard, especially after a 3-0 win [against St Mirren]. We have to move on and we have to accept it. It's football. We need to give a good reaction against Ross County and we need to win the next two games.”

Bushiri endured a tricky start to life at Hibs but insists he couldn’t be happier with how things have turned out – especially after Johnson admitted he was close to letting him leave when he first came to the club but now viewed him as a key player.

Johnson said last month: “Rocky was one I was more than happy to move on, but now I wouldn’t let him go for £10 million. I’ve been very impressed with him.”

Bushiri breaks into a huge smile when asked about his hefty price tag, but there is steel in his voice as he outlines how he dealt with Johnson’s bombshell.

“We had a difficult start together and it’s hard when a manager is happy to let you leave at a young age. I worked hard in the summer and hard during the pre-season, and I’ve proven he can trust me – it’s not up to me to decide about the price!

“It hurt but you decide how you deal with it. I decided to stay, and prove myself, and work hard, and that’s what I’ve done.

"When I first came to Hibs I was coming back from a long injury and needed time to get back in the flow. In football there’s no time, no mercy. You get judged by your performance. My way of responding was by working hard.”

He has also won the fans over following a largely negative reaction to his permanent signing. Such was Bushiri’s dismay that he held heart-to-heart talks with club chief Ben Kensell.

“I’m not going to go into detail but we just spoke about it and we said we will turn things around,” he explains. “He said, ‘you just have to work hard and do your job and things will change’. To get love and respect you need to show commitment, and then the fans will support you. Even when we had difficult moments at the end of last season, they were still there for us in the stadium.

"There is more to come from me and the team, because it’s still early. We are still working on loads of things. There is always room for improvement.”