Lee Johnson believes his Hibs side have lots of potential - but they've got a 'soft underbelly'.
The capital club went down to a huge 4-1 loss to Aberdeen under the lights at Pittodrie as both clubs eye up third spot in the Premiership behind Celtic and Rangers and a place in Europe next season. Hearts benefitted from European group stage football this campaign and while Robbie Neilson will be fully focussed on achieving that feat one again, a number of clubs include the Hibees hold the same aspirations.
However, Jim Goodwin's men put down a marker in the last meeting with Johnson admitting the result should hurt his group and the individuals who made errors. He believes the issues are not physical but sometimes psychological. The defeat means Hibs drop to fifth behind Hearts - who have a game in hand - and Aberdeen in the table. They face Ross County and Kilmarnock before the World Cup break with a big six points the target.
READ MORE: Lee Johnson laments Hibs defending at Aberdeen as 'ridiculous' VAR wait leads to more questions
Sign up to Edinburgh Live newsletters for more headlines straight to your inbox
Speaking to Edinburgh Evening News, Johnson said: "It hurts, and it should hurt the lads as as group and the individuals who make the mistakes and only then can you learn from it.
“We're a good side with a lot of potential but we've got that soft underbelly – a little bit psychological but not necessarily physical; we had physical players on the pitch.”
He added: "We seem to be okay with making mistakes. We make one, then another, and another. Good teams come to places like this and yes, there are mistakes in games, but very quickly everyone else is shuffled and organised and it's snuffed out.
"Sometimes that's kicking the ball out of play and defending from a set position again. We had enough defenders and physicality on the pitch to cope with it but not enough strength of mind."
READ NEXT:
- Harry McKirdy holds Hibs talks after Swindon social media post as explanation demanded
- Hibs star Ewan Henderson challenged by Lee Johnson to find 'killer instinct' more often
- Hibs line up another World Cup break friendly as fans told to bring the noise for Edinburgh match
- Hibs reach UEFA Youth League play-off as Steve Kean roars 'bring it on' after Nantes triumph
