Lee Johnson doesn't think a red card for Kyle Magennis defined why his Hibs side lost 2-1 to St Johnstone on Friday night.
The Hibees were comfortable in front of their biggest home crowd in over 30 years for over an hour, and were ahead through Mykola Kukharevych. But the midfielder picked up a second booking and it was the catalyst for the Nicky Clark and Stevie May goals which sealed a Saints win at Easter Road.
Johnson told Hibs TV: “I’m disappointed. We wanted to put a show on for the 19,500 Hibs fans, which to be honest, I thought we did for 60 minutes because of our energy, our spirit, playing on the front foot and pressing high. The game naturally got stressed but we had the key moments within it. If there’s a criticism within that, we didn’t execute the final ball anywhere near enough.
Sign up to Edinburgh Live newsletters for more headlines straight to your inbox
“We had good chances to slide people through one-on-one with the keeper and either under hit them or failed with the detail in the pass. We had chances to spin crosses behind their back line and put them out of play or behind the goal. At 1-0 we had total control.
“We had a spell for 10-15 minutes where we gave the ball away too many times both facing our own goal or facing their goal, and there was a momentum swing at that point that led to us being stretched, which led to the key match incident which was the sending off.
“After that moment we have to defend the crosses better than what we did; that wasn’t down to the numerical advantage, it was down to us not concentrating enough.”
READ NEXT:
- Joe Newell hopes Hibs hand Ryan Porteous contract extension as he blasts 'witch hunt'
- Lee Johnson urges Ryan Porteous Hibs stay as he hails 'spiritual leader' with contract on table
- Ryan Porteous' Hibs future latest with 'strong' contract offered reveals Lee Johnson
