Hibs’ Head Coach Neil Lennon said that he was not going to be ‘over critical’ of his players after last night’s bizarre 6-4 victory in the second leg of their Europa League first qualifying round against NSI Runavik in the Faroe Islands.
Lennon was forced to field a makeshift defence with Paul Hanlon absent through injury and Darren McGregor not risked due to the artificial surface.
Hibs now face Asteras Tripolis, who finished fifth in last season’s Greek Superleague at Easter Road next Thursday and Lennon concedes that his side will need to defend significantly better if they are to progress to the next round.
Hibs have now scored an incredible 17 goals and conceded 10 in their past three competitive matches.
After the final whistle, Lennon told BBC Scotland: “Some of the defending was a bit calamitous. We were just sloppy and complacent.
“I wanted us to be professional but we were anything but. We got a reaction, though, so I’m not going to be over-critical.
“There was a bit of rust there but we’ll be ready next week for the Greeks and it’s important we put the hours in to get things right for that.”
When asked the inevitable question about the future of star midfielder John mcGinn, Lennon replied: “Negotiations might be going on or they might have stalled
“I don’t know. But he’s a cracking player, one of our best, and he needed the 90 minutes.
“Our focus now is all on next week and that will do John the world of good.”
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.
