What pleased Lee Johnson most about Dylan Vente debut as Hibs boss sends warning

Lee Johnson was delighted with Dylan Vente’s introduction as a Hibs player after the summer signing made a dream debut at Easter Road.

Dylan Vente heads Hibs into a 2-1 lead over Swiss side Luzern in the first leg clash at Easter Road. Picture: SNS

The £700,000 striker from Roda JC notched a goal and an assist in his introduction to the Hibees faithful as the home side defeated Luzern 3-1 in their first-leg meeting of the Europa Conference League third-qualifying round.

Vente headed in his side’s second goal after Ismaji Beka cancelled out Joe Newell’s opener, which saw the midfielder curl in an excellent strike after being tee’d up by Vente. Jordan Obita then gave Johnson’s side a cushion in injury time.

While understandably pleased to see a marquee signing make such an immediate impact, Johnson revealed the thing that satisfied him about Vente’s performance the most was his willingness to work from the front.

“I thought Dylan was excellent and he provided the goal and the assist but, for me, I buzzed off the workrate,” said Johnsom.

"Him and Alfie [Adam Le Fondre] worked their socks off and they were cutting across each other and they were dangerous, even in the first half when Alfie slid one across and Dylan was very close to tucking that one in.

“Their movement is the key and while you can teach that a little bit as a coach, it is instinctive. I saw that from [Christian] Doidge, I saw it from Le Fondre and I saw it from Dylan.”

Though obviously over the moon with the result and his side’s response after losing their league opener to St Mirren on Sunday, Johnson refused to get carried away ahead of the return match in Switzerland.

“It's only half-time. I said in Andorra when we lost 2-1 that it was only half-time and I'll say it again now we've got a two-goal lead,” he said.

“I honestly think it's nowhere near done, genuinely. I think they're a really good side with threats and quality everywhere.

“This is a completely new experience for us. We'll take a really strong travelling contingent. The atmosphere at their stadium is excellent. It's good because hopefully we can make it even better with the numbers we take, and I'm really looking forward to it.”