Head Coach Neil Lennon was delighted with the application of his players during yesterday’s emphatic 8-1 victory over Bonnyrigg Rose at Tynecastle, particularly in the second half.
He demonstrated the importance of the competition to Hibs by fielding a strong side against the part-timers and he is now hoping to avoid the ‘big guns’ and progress in the tournament.
The game gave him the opportunity to field a number of players who hadn’t been playing in recent weeks which will help in the run in for promotion although he admitted that he believes that the squad is ‘thin’ in numbers and revealed that he is looking to bring in at least one more players.
Speaking to Hibs TV immediately after the game, Lennon said: “It was an excellent performance and the attitude of the players was good and there were some great goals.
“We took the sting out of Bonnyrigg whenever we could and it was a thoroughly professional performance. The most important thing is that we’re in the draw for the next round, and we’ll look forward to that.
“It’ll do the confidence of the players no harm. Some players who haven’t played much recently, Keatings, Shinnie and Forster, all got 90 minutes under their belt which is great too.
“We put a strong team out today with a couple of young players on the bench and I think that was important.
“There are no midweek games and the players will have plenty time to recover for next week.
“We got a little bit sloppy at 3-0 up so we had a few words with them at half time which got the desired affect. We didn’t pass the ball quickly enough in the first half and at times we were taking too many touches.
“I thought we looked a threat every time we went forward.
“Regardless of the strength in depth that we have , we are still a little bit thin in numbers so we are looking to add maybe one more if we can.
“We want to avoid the big guns if we can and try and progress as far in the competition as we can, but the cup draw is the cup draw so we will take whoever we get.
“We are the holders and we want to defend it but now we are totally focussed on the game against Queen of the South next week.
“We know how dangerous they can be. They made a great start to the season, lost their way a little bit but seemed to have steadied themselves. They won today at Dumbarton.
“Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. Every game in the Championship is difficult home or away but that’s four wins in a row and we are in good form but let’s not get complacent.2
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
