'You do the maths': Hibs players fighting for their futures as Lee Johnson spells out lie of land

Lee Johnson knows that his Hibs squad is bloated.

Kyle Magennis made his long-awaited comeback in last weekend’s win in Dingwall and the Leith gaffer has also welcomed Demi Mitchell, Rocky Bushiri and Elias Melkersen back into contention, while striker Kevin Nisbet has resumed full-contact training and is eyeing up a return to competitive action.

Jake Doyle-Hayes will miss out the next three or four weeks following an ankle operation, while Momodou Bojang sustained a groin injury on an unsanctioned run but both will be back before the World Cup break, leaving Johnson with plenty of selection options.

But, he says that makes it harder for him to keep everyone happy and will be looking to reduce his squad size.

“There are so many factors and when you have 27/28 players and maybe only eight or nine are regulars,” said Johnson. “You do the maths. It’s not easy. Players end up bored and not having the carrot at the end of the week hampers your progression

“There are a lot of feelings to manage. When you get a lot of 20-25 year olds with experience, like we’ve got, it does become tricky to manage those guys. They have the desire to play and the hunger to play and they are their agents’ golden pay cheque so they are on the phone every five minutes. But they are probably not as mature as the senior players so they don’t always understand and sometimes they feel victimised so clear communication is really big.

“I think we need to reduce the squad over the next couple of windows. The aim is to do that and increase the quality but it is better to start from that position of being slightly swollen because then we can use the budget well and move people out and move people in.

“For me, [the ideal squad size is] about 23-24, but it depends how many utility players you’ve got …on injury history and how you’re going to train and the intensity levels you are willing to train at to keep your best players fit. “