Lee Johnson defends Hibs call over Martin Boyle as he insists Euro heroics explain Premiership slump

Lee Johnson admits he’d have loved to have given mercurial Martin Boyle the day off - but was forced to give him 45 minutes as Hibs chased victory at Fir Park.

The plan backfired as Motherwell won 2-1 to leave Hibs stranded on zero points after two league games. Now their gaffer has to lift them for a potentially hazardous trip to Switzerland on Thursday as they hope to finish the Europa Conference League qualifying job on Luzern. Hibs hold a two-goal lead but Johnson knows the tie is far from over and is demanding his players defend better than they did in Lanarkshire - while hoping Boyle might nick a goal at the other end.

He said: “Boyle was medically ruled out of the start. There’s been a couple of times already when I’ve gone against the medics and the surgeons. Given the Thursday game in mind as well, it was just a game too far in which I could try to squeeze 60 or 90 minutes out of him.

“In a perfect world we would have been up in this game and then I wouldn’t have had to use him at all, but at half-time I felt we needed that spark so he had to come on. To be fair, I can’t remember us feeding him.

“That’s down to Motherwell’s good work but also our lack of creativity on the day. The ebb and flow of the game was even in the first-half, the two sides nullified each other. There wasn’t a lot going on. The attitude was to go and take over the game, which didn’t happen.

“We’ve conceded two really poor goals, of a weak disposition in terms of the physical battle of those two moments. After that we’ve got to cover our mates.”

Johnson believes the European matches are having an impact but is desperate to stay in the competition. He added: “I felt the output of Thursday affected us in terms of the zip. The difference