Lee Johnson refused to point the finger of blame at Kevin Nisbet for his Pittodrie penalty miss that could well cost Hibs a crack at claiming third.
The proud boss said if this had been a boxing match then battling Hibs side would have won it on points. Johnston praised his Hibs side who were the better team in Aberdeen but he failed to make their superiority count. The Hibs boss admitted: "I said to him, 'listen, I wish I'd had the bravery as a player to take those penalties'. It takes a brave man to take that penalty. He's got a lot of belief in himself and he'll make sure he scores the next one."
Johnson knows Hibs might just be hitting form at the wrong end of the season. He stated: “We should have been out of sight. You know what I'm like: I'm process-driven, I believe in the numbers game. I think we're really starting to show signs of maturity as a team. We're only going to get better, there's no doubt about that, with the summer window coming.