HIBERNIAN have made a statement of intent on the eve of the new season by turning down an offer of more than £1million for Jason Cummings from Peterborough. The English League One club were unsuccessful with the offer just weeks after the Scotland Under-21 internationalist signed a new four-year deal at Easter Road.

Hibs refused to discuss the bid publicly yesterday, but sources close to the club indicated that the deal would have been worth up to £1.5m with add-ons. After netting 46 goals in the last two seasons, the 21-year-old is not short of admirers in England, while Turkish outfit Trabzonspor admitted an interest in the marksman earlier this summer.

Cummings agreed a new contract with the Leith club last month, and said: “There was never any doubt in my mind over where I wanted to be this season, and I’m relieved to get it over the line.”

Hibs will doubtless be disappointed with the timing of Peterborough’s bid, as they prepare to kick off their Championship campaign in a clash at Falkirk this afternoon, but the retention of their leading striker will be seen by the fans as a sign of their determination to win automatic promotion at the third time of asking. New signing Grant Holt was part of the Norwich City side that earned successive promotions on their way to the English Premier League in 2011 and is out to achieve similar success north of the Border.

“There will be rivalry all year," he said. "It won't just be Falkirk - there will be other teams and we will treat every team with respect, treat them all the same, because they all bring opposition.

"It doesn't matter if you are playing teams at the top or those who have come down or those fighting not to be relegated, they are all going to be tough tests and anyone who watched Hibs last year knows how well teams perform when they come to our stadium.”

The 35-year-old, however, dismisses the notion that victory today would be an explicit statement of intent.

“You don't lay markers down now,” added Holt.

“That's later on and there's a lot of games and a long way to go, so it's not how you start, it's how you finish and although we want to win every game, the boys know what we need to do.

“If we can keep hitting consistent levels week-in, week-out, and we know we can achieve that, then we will definitely be there or thereabouts.”

Holt is likely to form a striking partnership with the colourful Jason Cummings, the scorer of 46 goals in two seasons, against the Bairns and insists the 21-year-old’s confidence off the park is matched by his actions on it.

He added: “He's not as bad as is made out. He's just not very good at giving interviews. I'm lucky, I'm 35 and I've done lots.

“When you have someone like Jason who is very open and doesn't think before he speaks, he can say something that he thinks is funny and doesn't realise how it comes out.

"But one thing with that boy is his talking on the football pitch backs up what he says. I've seen plenty people before who talk a lot of rubbish and don't do anything on the pitch.

"I have had a quiet word with him over what he says but he's learned his lesson. He's come at me twice on Twitter twice now and I've absolutely battered him and I will do it again.”

If today's encounter is as close as last season's dramatic affairs, Bob McHugh is one player Hibs will not want to see burrowing into their box as the full-time whistle approaches. While Falkirk were becoming Hibs' arch enemies last term, the striker was one figure they learned to hate the sight of. A last-minute strike in April secured the Bairns a stunning 2-2 draw that effectively clinched second spot above their capital rivals.

Then, having secured the equaliser 10 minutes from time in the first-leg, the former Motherwell marksman popped up with virtually the last kick of the ball to spear in a jaw-dropping winner in the second-leg of the teams' astonishing play-off semi-final.

An injury-time winner against Rangers in March also helped McHugh build a name for himself as a match-winner from the bench.

However, the one-time Scotland under-19 cap is desperate to prove he can make as big an impact right from first whistle in the coming campaign.

He said: "There's no better feeling in football than scoring winners in the last minute of the game, or important goals in the last minute.

"I managed to do that a number of times last season, so that was brilliant.

"I would be delighted if that's the case again this season. But I'll be hoping to get games from the start and hoping to make an impact in the first half, as well as maybe late on in the second half."