Lee Johnson insists Hibs won't get Aston Villa free hit as boss maps out plan to plug £180m Conference League gap

Lee Johnson insists tomorrow’s Battle of Britain is no free hit for Hibs as he urged his players to mark his 500th game as a manager by shocking Aston Villa.

The Easter Road boss admits his side must be at the top of their game - with Liverpool’s 7-1 Champions League thrashing of Rangers last season a reminder of what could happen if they’re not. Not since Celtic’s 1-0 win over Manchester United in 2006 has a Scottish club triumphed against Premier League opposition.

But Johnson believes in his players’ ability to upset the odds against a Villa side he claims have a budget £180m more than his own. And the Englishman - who was at pains to stress he’s half Scottish through his mother’s side - wants his players to believe too ahead of the first leg of their Conference League play-off this evening. He said: “I don’t think you get a free hit with a club this size. The expectation is there and that’s a privilege of managing a big club

“We’re on the European stage now, we need to compete and compete well. Somebody told me it’s 17 years since a Scottish team beat an English team in European competition. We’re not going to take that pressure on this game, absolutely not, we’re just going to try to give the best possible account of ourselves.

“The reality is the two budgets are probably £180 million apart - at least! So, there’s a gap here that we’re going to have to try to bridge, and we’ll do that by effort, support from the stands, from individual brilliance on the day, and by believing in ourselves, to the point where that [the budget] is the least important factor in a game like this, because it’s 11 me against 11 men.”

Asked if Liverpool’s 7-1 win at Ibrox last season was a warning, Johnson continued: “Yeah, absolutely. That