PROUD LENNON LAUDS BOGDAN’S BRILLIANCE

to produce an inspired display as the ten-man Greeks threw everything they had at their visitors despite having Michael Manias sent off at the start of the second half. A delighted Lennon admitted he was immensely proud of all his players for prevailing on the night but singled out 30-year-old Hungarian Bogdan for praise after he was at fault for Asteras’ opening goal in the first leg. ‘Adam was world class,’ said the Hibs boss. ‘The save from one header was Gordon Banks-esque — I don’t know how he got that out. ‘I’ve admired him for a long time. He’s had a bit of rust but tonight we saw his capabilities. And, in Europe away from home, you need your goalkeeper to play well. I know that from my own experience at Celtic.’ A rousing second-half performance from Asteras saw Kosmas Tsilianidis level on the evening after 56 minutes. But Hibs held on for a 1-1 draw which was enough to see the Leith side set up a tie against Norwegian side Molde with a 4-3 aggregate victory. ‘I am very proud of the players. It’s a tremendous success to get through,’ said Lennon. ‘It was everything I imagined it would be. I knew it would be a difficult night. ‘We made it more difficult for ourselves, but we are good value for the result. ‘We are learning as we go and the journey now goes on. ‘On the balance of play, I believe we deserved it. It came down to game management and you need to give credit to our players, the game changed when we scored our goal and then when Asteras went down to ten men. ‘When they scored, it was poor defending from our point of view. We didn’t handle the game management as well as I would have liked. ‘We should have been more comfortable with a man extra.’ Lennon, whose side begin their Premiership campaign with a visit of Motherwell on Sunday, also confirmed that talks aimed at re-signing striker Jamie Maclaren from German outfit SV Darmstadt 98 should reach a successful conclusion. He added: ‘I think it’s getting closer and, hopefully, we’ll have something over the line by the weekend. ‘It’s another body and a good player in the squad.’ Asteras manager Savvas Pantelidis, meanwhile, said: ‘Congratulations to my team. The second-half performance was outstanding because they gave all the effort and the way they managed the game was amazing. ‘My players delivered their soul on the pitch and I believe we deserved the victory and to qualify for the next Europa round.’