Early start is a huge boost, says Lennon

NEIL LENNON believes the SFA have handed his Hibs side an advantage by making today’s Scottish Cup semi-final with Aberdeen at Hampden a lunchtime kick-off. More than 18,000 Hibs fans are making an emotional pilgrimage to the ground where they finally shattered their 114-year-old Cup curse last May. In contrast, the Dons have sold only around 11,000 tickets to supporters expected to make an early rise in order to reach Glasgow on time. Stepping in to defend Aberdeen fans from accusations they lacked enthusiasm for the tie, Lennon said: ‘You’re asking them to travel for a 12.15 kick off — and I think that is really unfair on the Aberdeen fans. It’s a showpiece

game. It’s just location more than anything else. I don’t think it’s indifference to the game. ‘If there is any advantage to that, then we will take whatever we can get — on the pitch or off the pitch. ‘You get a sense of the atmosphere when you’re out there, although you don’t really get a feel for it until after the first five or ten minutes of the game.’ Lennon has revealed that he tried to sign Aberdeen star Niall McGinn — a player he discarded when he was Celtic manager — during his brief spell as Bolton boss. McGinn, punted out on loan and then allowed to join the Dons in 2012, remains motivated by a desire to prove his old head coach wrong. But Lennon, who is thought to have agreed a deal to sign St Johnstone’s Danny Swanson on a pre-contract, said: ‘I enquired about Niall when I was at Bolton. Derek McInnes wouldn’t have any of it, so we left it. ‘It didn’t work out for him at Celtic but he’s gone on to carve out a very good career for himself. I think he’s one of Aberdeen’s better players and he’ll be a real threat to us.’ Meanwhile, McInnes is determined to shatter his Scottish Cup glass ceiling at the fourth attempt. He has reached the last four of the competition on three previous occasions in his managerial career but has yet to make the final. In 2008, his St Johnstone side lost on penalties to Rangers before a 3-0 defeat to Motherwell three years later. Ironically, it was his former club Saints who ended Dons’ hopes in 2014 with a 2-1 win at Ibrox. Today’s clash provides McInnes with a chance to follow up November’s League Cup final appearance against Celtic. And he believes all those

past experiences will serve him and his players well as they aim for a Hampden return on May 27. ‘I had a few Scottish Cup semi-finals as a player and then as a manager at St Johnstone,’ he reflected. ‘Against Rangers, we went to extra time and Nacho Novo scored a penalty that was never a penalty. It was so disappointing after we had been 1-0 up. (Rangers won on penalties). ‘We lost to Motherwell. (John) Sutton scored a brilliant goal that day, but we didn’t turn up. So there have been a few close ones. But I’d rather talk about my Aberdeen team. We were not far off in the semis we didn’t win, including the (League Cup) one against Dundee United (in 2015). ‘We had a goal chalked off that shouldn’t have been and United had a goal that was allowed to stand that shouldn’t have been either. ‘Against St Johnstone, we were bordering on being a little too comfortable, without being at our best. ‘Maybe we thought we’d glide through the 90 minutes but, before we knew it, Stevie May had scored a couple of goals. ‘It’s a reminder that no matter how well you start, you must concentrate for 90 minutes. You can make it up in the league but, in the cup, it can be taken away from you in seconds.’ McInnes is keen for refereeing controversy not to be the focus of attention today in the wake of the furore surrounding Alex Schalk’s infamous dive against Celtic last Sunday. ‘Refs have a difficult job. You hope they get the big decisions right and don’t impact the game,’ he said. ‘You want all the talk on the day to be about good performances and goals. ‘Hopefully, it will be Aberdeen who score the majority of them.’