Hibs boss Lee Johnson criticises 'unhelpful' comments from ex-Hearts manager Craig Levein on Ryan Porteous

Craig Levein's comments have been criticised by Lee Johnson.

Hibs manager Lee Johnson has criticised “unhelpful” comments from ex-Hearts boss Craig Levein on the future of Ryan Porteous.

The 23-year-old is out of contract at the end of this season and while Hibs are in negotiations with the in-form, recently-capped Scotland defender, no agreement has been reached between the parties.

Interest is expected to be high in Porteous, but Johnson was unimpressed with radio comments from Levein at the weekend, who implied that the centre-half should not remain at Easter Road.

In the aftermath of Porteous scoring the winner against Motherwell last weekend with a header, Levein said: “I'm delighted for Ryan Porteous. He was getting a bit of stick earlier in the season and his header [in the game against Motherwell] was brave to say the least.

"All credit to him. He's had stick, but he's went about it the right way and showed people that he's made of strong stuff. But he can go to someone else now, not Hibs."

There was a jocular element to Levein’s comments, but Johnson said that regardless of the ex-Scotland boss’ intentions, they do not help the situation.

"You've got people like Craig Levein coming out and saying that Ryan should potentially not be here and look to pastures new,” Johnson, who takes his Hibs team to Celtic on Saturday, said. “This is a guy who's on the board of the panel that allows players into the country if they don't meet the criteria. He's publicly saying Ryan should be at a different club down south.

“How do I replace Ryan Porteous? I have to go abroad, then I'm back in front of Craig Levein and the panel saying, 'thanks for that'. We've lost Ryan and now I have to bring in a guy from, say, Timbuktu to replace him, because that's where I can get the value. It's comments like that that I don't think are helpful, whether it's an ex-Hearts manager or someone in that position on that panel.”

Johnson was then asked for an update on contract talks with Porteous, with the response: “Discussions have been positive but we can talk until we are blue in the face, until it’s been signed it doesn’t mean anything.”