THE League Cup, both south and north of the border, in its many forms and names has been good and bad to Neil Lennon.
At Leicester City he won it twice with Martin O’Neill and also lost a final thanks to a last-minute goal by Tottenham.
He lost two finals as Celtic manager, was sent off against Rangers in 2003, and also has two winners medals from his playing days.
And last season, his Hibs side lost out to Celtic a highly entertaining semi-final. It’s been far from boring.
And how Lennon would love to parade the League Cup down Leith Walk this year. Right now, they have as good a chance as any one of the eight teams left.
The Northern Irishman dismissed talk of the title; however, he believes should his side defeat Aberdeen tonight at Easter Road in a game which could be wonderful, the Betfred Cup is well within the sights of his players.
“I am not sure we would be consistent enough to win the league,”said Lennon in that straightforward manner of his..
“We have had a good calendar year but we still throw in the odd adverse performances as shown at Livingston a few weeks ago.
“And I don’t know if we have the experience to do that. We are very happy with where we are but to say we would be in the running for the title would be folly.”
Lennon expects Aberdeen to provide as tough a test as they did in the 1-1 league draw at Easter Road a month ago.
Derek McInnes’s side have not been quite at it in the league but this is a 50/50 game.
“It is a trophy that is up for grabs and we want to be into the next round,” said Lennon,
“We are lucky with the draw, we have home advantage but unlucky in the fact we are playing a very good team in Aberdeen who have a very good cup record in recent years.
“I expect it to be a close affair again. Aberdeen will be a contender again in all competitions.”
“From my point of view the title is maybe beyond us so this is one of the other trophies we have a possibility of winning.
“We know that if we negotiate past Aberdeen we are in a semi final. But it’s easier said that done – Aberdeen are a strong team and defensively are well set up, and hard to beat. But we are at home and our home form has been good. Like I say, confidence is on the rise.”
Efe Ambrose agreed with his manager, good job, that the title would be a stretch for even the best Hibs side in years.
Although the defender did claim that his team at least seem to be heading down a path which one day would lead them to be contenders.
“We are aware of who we are and it would be foolish to think that because of our impressive form we would be carried away,” said Ambrose.
In the league we’ll just have to see where we end up, but we have a hunger for success that a team needs to triumph, with a defined system of play and clear ideas. We are doing better than last season and the bar has been raised. We are starting to be a team that will fight for the league title.”
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