Hibernian’s players may have thought they had consigned the term ‘Hibsing it’ to history after showing the mental fortitude to fight back and claim victory against Rangers in the Scottish Cup final, but any notion that they had banished their reputation for having a soft centre was instantly dismissed by their new manager on his first day in the job.

As Neil Lennon addressed his players, he took what might be deemed the risky approach of telling them exactly what he had thought of them in the past. And it was far from complimentary.

According to striker James Keatings though, the new boss at Easter Road told the Hibs players exactly what they needed to hear, and on the evidence of their barnstorming start to the Championship season it is hard to argue with his summation.

“He said to us at a meeting the first day we were all back in, that he thought we were soft,” Keatings said. “That we lost soft goals, we weren’t mentally strong, we hadn’t seen out games.

“It was obvious he had watched a lot of our games from last season. He saw we had conceded late goals and thrown away games. Dumbarton springs to mind, we lost twice there last season and he mentioned that before the weekend, we knew it was going to be hard.

“He had seen the games against Falkirk and that was something he wanted to change. He has drilled that into us, he wants us to concentrate for the full 90 minutes and be ready for anything teams are going to throw at us.

“He has created a winning mentality, even in training. Whenever we have games in training he wants to make sure we win, that we don’t concede goals and we’re taking that into games. It’s as intense as the games themselves are.

“He’s very demanding, every day he has a laugh and a joke but he turns very serious when it comes to things like possession, he wants it done right. He just demands high standards, he was like that as a player and he has took that on as a manager, that’s how he wants his team to play.

“I worked with him for a couple of years when he was at Celtic before I left to go to Hamilton. I knew what he was like then, I knew how demanding he was and how strict he was.

“So I knew what was coming when he came to Hibs and I warned the boys it was going to be tough, but also the right way to do it.

“I didn’t see him leaving Celtic with them winning the league every year. Getting Celtic into the last 16 of the Champions League as well, he was doing a great job. But he went on to other things and now he managing Hibs and I am working under him. So it’s good.”

The arrival of Lennon in Leith raised some eyebrows due to Hibernian’s current status as a Championship club, but Keatings believes that attracting the former Celtic and Bolton manager was a signal of the club’s intent to remedy that situation as quickly as possible.

If they can maintain their form, the striker hopes that they will avoid the ignominy of another season in Scotland’s second tier, and continue to attract more of their considerable fanbase back to matches on a regular basis.

“We’ve been a long time now away from the Premiership, and a club like Hibs is one of the biggest clubs in Scotland,” he said.

“Where they want to be is in the Premiership playing against the biggest clubs, and straight away that was one of the first things that the manager said, that we have to get promoted.

“We want to play at the highest level in Scotland and show what a good team we’ve got. That’s one of our main objectives, and the ambition that the club showed in bringing in Neil Lennon is massive.

“The season ticket sales have went up and the crowds are coming back, and that’s great for the players. You ask any player and they will want to play in front of as many fans as they can. It makes a massive difference and it pushes the team on.”