NEIL Lennon, the Hibernian manager, last night singled out Jason Cummings, whose performance he had savaged at the weekend, for praise after his side's stunning 3-1 win over Hearts at Easter Road.
The striker scored the opening goal and set up Grant Holt for the second in a William Hill Scottish Cup fifth round replay triumph which sets up a quarter-final against Ayr United at home next month.
Lennon has publicly lambasted his side, Cummings in particular, in the wake of a 1-1 draw with Raith Rovers in a Ladbrokes Premiership game at Stark's Park on Saturday.
But the Northern Irishman was delighted with the forward's showing and with the all-round display of his team in a one-sided win which keeps alive their hopes of retaining their trophy.
Asked about his outburst at the weekend, Lennon said: "I didn't want to do it, but I felt the need to do it. I know what I've got in that dressing room. My players were just magnificent. We blew Hearts away. We were so dominant. As a manager I couldn't ask for any more from the players or from the supporters.
"It's been a very, very good night for the player and the supporters, but that's all it is, one game. It puts us in the quarter-final. Psychologically, it will hopefully give the club a lift.
"You can see what it meant to the supporters and you could see what it meant to the players. They were ferocious, absolutely ferocious. The players I singled out for criticism on Saturday, Jason Cummings and John McGinn, were unbelievable.
"Not only does it speak volumes for their characters and their personalities it also speaks volumes for the talent that they have. That's what we want. We want to make all-round footballers with good temperament as well. They are big game players. I have got a very good dressing room there."
Lennon continued: "Cummings' all-round game was the total opposite of what it was on Saturday. I said to him before the game that we had a £1.8 million bid for him in the summer. That wouldn't pay for his right leg. He is just getting better and better.
"But I want him to try and stay at that level consistently because that's what his level is when he really puts his mind to it. He's a big game player. I don't know how many goals he's got in derbies, I don't know how many goals he's got when we really needed him over the years, but that is a talent, a real knack."
Lennon's opposite number Ian Cathro admitted the defeat showed that his Hearts side wasn't at the stage that he had thought they were and had to work hard to get their fans back onside.
"We lost the game because we didn't have the level of fight, we didn't win the second balls, we weren't fast enough," he said. "We have to put our hands up and admit that we, all of us collectively, have let the club down and let the fans down and we have a hell of a lot of making up to do now.
"It is a concern that we didn't have any fight in a cup game at Easter Road. They have it and we have to find it. But I think that we and I have made a mistake in overestimating the stage that we're at."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel