HIBERNIAN boss Lee Johnson knew there would be interest in centre-forward Kevin Nisbet as he described what kind of player the Scotland international is.
Millwall have again targeted Nisbet this summer after a proposed January move broke down.
Nisbet returned from a long-term knee-injury last December and scored 12 goals in 20 games last season, including against Celtic and Rangers.
Nisbet scored the only goal of the game to end Hibs’ nine-match winless streak against Hearts in the Edinburgh derby in April.
Johnson compared him to former England striker Kevin Phillips, who was the top-scorer with 30 goals in the 1999-00 Premier League season.
If it was after the victory over Hearts that Johnson was asked by local media if he expected Nisbet, who is rated at over £2million, to be at the club next season.
“You never know. He is attracting a lot of interest,” Johnson said. “The Scotland manager was there at the weekend as well and there’s never a bad time to have that kind of game.
“My challenge for him is: ‘Go and do that again on Saturday now, when maybe the atmosphere isn’t quite as intense’. If he does do that then he probably won’t be here because someone will come in with a big bid that we can’t turn down. I hope the speculation builds because it means he is performing as well as he did on Saturday.
“I thought he was outstanding, his work rate, obviously the goal. You see now he is rolling his hips into people, he is pinning them, he is a big strong lad anyway.
“It was a great example when the ball came in during the Hearts game, he shaped up – I remember playing against Kevin Phillips who I thought was world class, low centre of gravity – dropped the shoulder, everybody was thinking he was going that way but big touch then spin then stuck someone down the line.
“You can only do that if you have a great touch, great centre of gravity and spacial awareness and for me that shows a real high level of football IQ.”
Johnson added: “It’s the player who puts the work in, we do our best as a coaching staff to highlight as many things as possible.
“A couple of games ago we felt he could have been working a little harder. So we presented him with a set of data of Premier League strikers and how hard they work and how he needs to get to that as quickly as possible.
“He does do that on a permanent basis but you are permanently trying to cajole them and push them and put your arm around them. Kevin is someone who needs that sense of belonging, I think he knows that we as a staff believe in him, and therefore he has to be professional enough to allow us to push him to bring his best as much as we possibly can.”
Image: Action Plus
