Lee Johnson insists Hibs can match Hearts and achieve European group stage football

Lee Johnson insists qualifying for Europe and making the group stages is what a successful season looks like for Hibs, and believes they can make it happen.

The Easter Road boss has seen the pressure ease on him just weeks after going head-to-head with Jim Goodwn in what was dubbed “El Sackico.” Johnson came out on top, guiding the Hibees to a 6-0 drubbing of Aberdeen, a result that saw Goodwin dismissed just 19 minutes after the full-time whistle had blown.

Now Johnson is looking up the table at the European spots. City rivals Hearts will be tough to catch in third, but fourth place is still doable for Hibs, who are just a point behind Livingston. The Lions have a game in hand on the Leith outfit who are far from home and hosed in terms of a top six finish, but Johnson is targeting fourth, whilst keeping an eye on the Scottish Cup to see if fifth would allow his men to sneak into the Europa Conference League.

"Success for us from where we are is no doubt qualifying for Europe," said Johnson. "But then it's seeing Europe through, getting through the qualifiers and making the group stages. We are ambitious and we want to achieve that not just one year but year on year.

"To do that you obviously have to cement your place in the top six. You have to finish in the top four but you may have the buffer of fifth depending on how the cup is going.

"The sole focus we give ourselves is a shot at European football. It's not a stretch because that should be the standard for a club like this but we are not there yet."

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