'Fatigue makes cowards of us all' - Hibs manager questions Manchester United defender Will Fish after defeat

Hibernian manager Lee Johnson admitted he thought Manchester United loanee Will Fish could've recovered more quickly as the Edinburgh side conceded late on to lose to St Mirren.

The Edinburgh outfit, who re-signed Fish on loan for the duration of the season last month, were beaten 3-2 on their own patch, marking the worst possible start to the campaign that they could have wished for. After finding themselves 2-0 down after just 17 minutes, Hibs clawed it back to 2-2 with just eight minutes of normal time left on the clock.

However, Alex Greive netted an 89th-minute winner to seal all three points for St Mirren, leaving Johnson seething with his players following the full-time whistle, accusing them of failing to do enough. The former Bristol City boss continued to go on the attack in his pre-match press conference looking ahead to Thursday night's Europa Conference League qualifier against Swiss side Luzern.

He used United loanee Fish, who featured for Erik ten Hag's side at certain junctures during pre-season, as an example as to why he was so infuriated with his side's efforts against St Mirren. He highlighted that he did not believe that Fish was running at full capacity, though he accepted that the centre-back was a late addition to his squad this summer.

"No one goes out to be lazy but fatigue makes cowards of us all," said Johnson, as quoted by the Daily Record. "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. So 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 and thought he could amble in or fatigue's stopped him going as fast as he can.

"It's about motivation and how much you want to get there. I don't do it to dig anyone out and punish them. 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."