Hibs boss Lee Johnson answers Kevin Nisbet transfer question & names 'perfect player' after Aberdeen thumping

Hibs boss Lee Johnson is hopeful of Kevin Nisbet remaining at Easter Road until the summer as he celebrated his side’s 6-0 thumping of Aberdeen.

The Hibees ran riot against an inept Dons side, scoring three in each half in what was a "brilliant performance” after a trying week in which Ryan Porteous was sold to Watford and the club nearly lost top scorer Kevin Nisbet to Millwall.

The striker was one of the scorers, coming off the bench to net his eighth league goal in seven appearances. Johnson revealed the player was late to the game due to traffic and that he thinks the player will remain beyond January.

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“He rang me up yesterday and said, ‘Look I’m coming back I want to start’," Johnson said. “I told him we’d worked all week and he hadn’t kicked a ball in anger but that we’d get him on and we have another game Tuesday.

“He’s here currently isn’t he. I’m not aware of anything else bubbling. So I think he’ll be here till the summer.”

The starring performance came from Josh Campbell who netted a hat-trick. Johnson joked he would be turning his phone off so no one makes a transfer move for the midfielder.

"I love Josh,” he said. “For me he is the perfect player. He is industrious, fit as anything, brave. I want to keep cajoling out of him that class and composure and relaxation in key moments because he's got it - we see it every day in training - but sometimes he has that youthful exuberance about him and he makes rash decisions.

"We talked yesterday about him scoring three or four more goals before the end of the season! I want to set him up as that box-to-box 8 or industrious 10 and he's nearly done it in one game. I feel like he's one that I have taken under my wing and tried to improve, as an ex-midfielder myself."

Hibs boss Lee Johnson hailed an "outstanding" team performance. (Photo by Paul Devlin / SNS Group)Hibs boss Lee Johnson hailed an "outstanding" team performance. (Photo by Paul Devlin / SNS Group)
Hibs boss Lee Johnson hailed an "outstanding" team performance. (Photo by Paul Devlin / SNS Group)

The Hibs boss noted that the first-half performance is how he wants his team to play, revealing Harry McKirdy is now “in sync” with what is required.

"I thought the first half performance definitely sets the bar in terms of breaking forward, running forward and breaking lines," Johnson said.

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