The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Lennon untroubled by Cummings’ antics
Hibernian head coach Neil Lennon insists he would never try to take the fun out of Jason Cummings following the striker’s comical pre-Hampden wrestling display.
Days before Hibernian face Aberdeen in the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-finals, the 21-year-old, dressed only in tight trunks and bandages, with the word ‘Cumdog’ penned on his chest, grappled with professional wrestler Grado at the Hibs training ground in a video which went viral on his Twitter account.
The sight of a star striker picking a wrestler off the floor days before a semi-final might have caused concern to some managers, but Lennon was laughing along in the background.
At one stage Cummings, who has broken the 20-goal mark three seasons on the trot, launched himself off a table on top of the Impact Wrestling star.
But Lennon said: “He was doing it with Grado, who’s a professional wrestler. It was just fun and I think it was all well-planned and wellrehearsed. I think, anyway. If it was off the cuff, then I’ve got a bit of a worry.”
The buoyant mood in the Hibs camp was a result of their Ladbrokes Championship title success last weekend. A 3-0 victory over Queen of the South sealed their top-flight return after a three-year absence and proved the perfect Hampden build-up.
Lennon said: “The players have achieved what they set out to do this season and we are going into a huge game as cup holders, one game away from the final. It doesn’t get much better.
“It’s been a nice week, we have taken the intensity away from training a little bit, because they have had a lot of games in their legs, so they can relax mentally and physically.
“Because they are going to need legs on Saturday.”