'More transitional than we wanted' - Hibs hopeful Lewis Miller can kick on after difficult start to Easter Road career

Lee Johnson believes Hibs fans are yet to see the best of Lewis Miller, admitting the Australian defender has endured a ‘more transitional year than we wanted’.

The 22-year-old summer signing featured in all four Premier Sports Cup group matches in July before two substitute appearances in the cinch Premiership but a series of injuries kept him sidelined from mid-October until mid-January when he returned to the bench for the 2-2 draw with Dundee United at Easter Road. He eventually made a playing comeback as a 73rd-minute substitute in the 6-0 victory over Aberdeen and his manager lamented what has been a frustrating season so far for the Olyroos full-back.

"He’s here and he’s in the squad but I think it’s ended up being a bit more of a transitional year for him than we would have wanted in terms of where we saw him,” Johnson told the Evening News in an exclusive interview. “It’s very difficult – and this is a lesson learned for all of us – to judge the weighting of the leagues.

"In the A-League I was watching a player who is physically super-powerful on big pitches and can stretch games and he was excelling, but it’s taken him a bit of time to adapt to Scottish football. There’s been the injuries but it’s a higher tactical focus too and I think the tempo is higher. Lewis is a really strong, physical player but that technical and tactical element is the bit we have to develop.”

Lewis Miller has had more of a transitional first season than Hibs wanted

Despite CJ Egan-Riley arriving on a half-season loan deal from Burnley, there isn’t a three-way shoot-out for possession of the starting right-back role despite the former Manchester City youngster replacing Chris Cadden at right-back in the 1-0 victory at St Mirren.

"It certainly isn’t a case of Miller versus Cadden versus Egan-Riley,” Johnson adds. “CJ was brought in so we could reduce the squad numbers, because he’s able to cover three different positions. Ahead of the St Mirren game Cadds had a bit of a patella tendonitis issue and while he was okay and could have played, it was deemed better for him if we could rest him and not give him the 90 minutes, and I thought he did well when he came on as a sub.”