Hibs set to ask Josh Campbell for big favour as Lee Johnson explains tactics against Motherwell

Hibs boss Lee Johnson watched his team lose 2-1 to Motherwell at Fir Park.

The Easter Road manager was restricted in his options as his side went down 2-1 against Motherwell at Fir Park. It leaves Hibs and St Johnstone as the only two top-flight sides left without a point after two matches.

But Hibs’ thoughts now turn to the return game with Luzern later this week as they seek to defend a 3-1 first leg lead and reach the Europa Conference League play-off round. The influential Campbell missed the game at Fir Park with a shoulder injury while winger Elie Youan was also absent due to a back strain. Medical advice, meanwhile, meant that Johnson could only start Martin Boyle on the bench.

He appeared for the second half, when all three goals were scored. Motherwell took a commanding lead after an impressive cameo from substitute Mika Biereth, who set up Conor Wilkinson for the first and scored the second himself after outmuscling Will Fish. Adam Le Fondre struck for Hibs from the spot in the dying moments after a VAR check for Dan Casey’s handball.

Johnson bemoaned his current squad’s limitations in terms of numbers as they deal with a challenging schedule, with such a pivotal night pending in Switzerland. “I would think we would have to ask Josh to do us a favour,” said Lee Johnson. “He has an injury to his shoulder, at the joint which needs rest but he could potentially be there. And Elie, I do not know the answer to that if I am honest. He has had a bad back for a couple of days with no signs of improvement.”

The manager explained why he had started with three at the back against Motherwell before switching to four in the second half, as Hibs sought to impose themselves more on the game. “The thinking was we did not have any wingers!” he said. “McKirdy is out, Youan was out and Boyle I was restricted and not allowed to play him. Jordan Obita is a wing-back really and Lewis Miller can play wing-back so the thought process was to put round pegs in round holes as much as we could. With the personnel we had on the pitch it would have been difficult to play 4-3-3 or 4-4-2.”

Johnson admitted the quick turnaround after a Thursday night game is “a bit of a stretch for us at the moment”. He added: “We’ve got six first-team starters out at the moment and ideally we’d have rotated a little bit more. The likes of (Dylan) Levitt, (Dylan) Vente and Boyle are still getting minutes, Boyle was medically ruled out of the start. I don’t think the Thursday games are going to be a problem because that extra day recovery is big for us. We just need to keep getting stronger as we develop because the league is our bread and butter. Zero points from two games isn’t good enough.”

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell hailed Biereth, who made such a sparkling appearance from the bench on his debut. “He’s still a young lad and going through the development phase in his career but coming from a club like Arsenal, we know he’s a good player. And previously playing in Holland has been a factor in us thinking he can play here,” he said. “We are delighted with the impact."