Lee Johnson in for the Hibs long haul as he admits Easter Road rebuild 'a more difficult job than I anticipated'

Lee Johnson insists he's committed to Hibernian long-term as he reflected on one year in the Easter Road hot seat.

Hibs still have the chance to secure European football with three Scottish Premiership games remaining after a disappointing eighth place finish last time out. And Johnson knows they’ve put themselves in brilliant position to have a pretty memorable season if they can win enough games and qualify for Europe. Johnson admits the fans would love a third place finish but even fifth could get continental football should Celtic beat Inverness CT in the Scottish Cup final next month.

Johnson has had to deal with injuries to key men, patchy runs of form and the death of executive chairman Ron Gordon this season but still has the Leith club fighting in the top half of the league. Asked for his reflections on the progress made during his first year at Hibs, Johnson said: “There’s probably a book in there, or certainly a chapter. I think we’re progressing, I genuinely do. It was a more difficult job than I anticipated looking at it from afar. When you’re then in the building you see there are a lot of good people but a lot of systems and processes that needed to improve.

“We talked a lot about our recruitment (previously) but I think that’s in a good place, well funded, well organised, well structured with good personnel. Recruitment is massive.

“The facilities are great but we’ve just spent £1 million on the pitches at Easter Road and at the training ground. And we’ve got progression in terms of making the top six and scoring more goals.

“Plus, we’ve had a very difficult season in terms of having our money on the pitch and having key players available. Overall, we’ve got ourselves in a position where we can deliver a