Manchester United defender Will Fish re-joined Scottish side Hibernian on loan for the upcoming campaign after having enjoyed a successful loan season with The Hibees last time out.
However, the United man did not get off to the greatest of starts to this year’s spell as Hibs lost the opening game of their league season to St. Mirren on Saturday
The 2-3 loss angered Hibs boss Lee Johnson who laid into his players after the defeat.
As reported in the Daily Record, Fish was one of those called out by Johnson, who branded his side as lazy, singling out the United man in the process.
“No one goes out to be lazy but fatigue makes cowards of us all. I thought for the third goal Will Fish could’ve got back in quicker. I looked on the GPS because I’m psychotic like that and he ran at 82 per cent of his maximum,” said Johnson
The Hibs boss added that he shared a joke with Fish after the incident while praising his performances from last season before once again reminding his side of the standards he demands.
“I asked him if a lion had been behind him, how much of his maximum would he have gone and he said 103 per cent, which I thought was quite funny.
“But it proves you have to do the work early and honestly. Will’s one of the most honest players we’ve got, he’s never shirked anything, but on that occasion he’s either underestimated the opponent’s opportunity. It’s about motivation and how much you want to get there,” he added.
Johnson did admit that Fish is still getting back into the rhythm having joined his team late along with the fact that the defender only played for United in the early rounds of pre-season.
“We have to learn from this. Will Fish is an example, he has to get in the rhythm of us, he came to us quite late from Manchester United where he didn’t have to run back in pre-season games. The bit I enjoy is looking back and actually coaching. It hurts badly but you get back on the horse and hopefully become a stronger team,” said Johnson.
With Hibs looking to better last season fifth-place finish this time around, Johnson will be demanding his team get back to winning ways as quickly as possible.
Fish will be hoping for an improved performance in Hibs’ Europa Conference League qualification game, with the Scottish side travelling to Switzerland to take on Luzern before facing an away game at Motherwell in the league on Sunday.