AFTER being the subject of a failed £1.7m bid from Peterborough during the summer, it appeared that a transfer away from Hibernian rather than a loss of form would be the cause of any prolonged absence from the starting XI for Jason Cummings.

The English League One side’s interest was piqued by Cummings’ 25 goal-haul from last season.

In becoming the new head coach, Neil Lennon’s first priority was to convince the player to sign a new four-year deal, and even invited Cummings to meet with him for face-to-face talks in Paris while the former Celtic manager was fulfilling his punditry commitments at Euro 2016.

But after notching eight in seven games at the start of this campaign, the 21-year-old’s exploits were not enough to save him from falling out of favour. The former Scotland Under-21 marksman made his first start in seven outings in Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Dumbarton.

Cummings insists he refused to wallow in self pity about his abrupt demotion to the bench, although he does concedes that frustration was a factor in his red card for dissent in an Under-20s match against Kilmarnock at Oriam last month.

“It took me by surprise a wee bit,” said Cummings. “It’s never really happened to me in my career so it was a wee bit different. But, if you look, it happens to every player, the top players as well. Ups and downs. I’ve not really got any complaints about it.

“I never sulked about. I just tried to work harder and get myself back in. You’d be lying if you said it didn’t hurt you. You feel that you are missing out. You’re coming in every weekend and you’re not playing or you’re playing 10 minutes and you just don’t really feel part of it.

“I took that for granted when I was playing week-in, week-out for the last few years. If anything, it has given me more hunger to stay in the team. That’s football isn’t it? Riding high in April, shut down in May. Frank Sinatra innit?

“It feels a bit harder for me because the players that came in took their chances, like Boyler [Martin Boyle] and the strikers. They came in and played well so I couldn't really ask questions.”

Despite working so hard to get Cummings tied down on fresh terms, Lennon made it clear that reputations counted for nothing and was particularly scathing of the forward after a goal-less draw at Queen of the South in September, saying: “If he isn’t scoring goals, then he isn’t bringing much to the team at the minute.”

Cummings, however, insists there is not one particular area of his game that he has looked to address.

“I hadn’t scored and I wasn't playing that well,” he admitted. “He had the right to try someone else. It’s been a massive learning curve for me. It has made me more hungry. I know the demands that this gaffer expects. If you drop your game of couple of games, it just proves that, with the squad we’ve got, someone will take your jersey from you, no problem. It’s a fight for places so you have to be on your best game every week.

“I’ve just been working hard on everything. He didn’t say ‘you’re dropped because you can’t finish’ or ‘you can’t do that’. It’s just phases. Every player has phases, ups and downs. I don’t think there is anything I could do about it. It just happened.”

Cummings’ attitude on Saturday could not be faulted but he had little to feed off during a largely uninspiring 2-0 victory over the visitors.

The marksman had an audacious front post flick saved before Paul Hanlon volleyed the home side in front just seconds before the break from Cummings’ corner.

Brian Graham added a second in the 76th minute with a fine finish from 16 yards.

“To be fair, I did feel a wee bit rusty, you need to play a few games in a row to get the feel back,” said Cummings. “But I’m delighted to be back amongst it. I was missing it.

“I didn't realise how much I actually missed it and took it for granted. Now that I’m back in, I just want to stay in because it’s a good team to be playing in.”

After losing in the Scottish Cup to junior side Bonnyrigg Rose on Tuesday, Dumbarton manager Stevie Aitken, just four points clear of Ladbrokes Championship basement side St Mirren, can draw encouragement from their display.

“The first half was really good but we just switched off and you can’t afford to do that," said Aitken. “We know coming to Easter Road is not going to define our season, we have to play the way we did in the rest of the games and if we do that I’m sure we’ll be fine.”