UP FOR THE CUP... BUT LENNON WANTS LEAGUE REVIVAL

NEIL LENNON has told his Hibs players they have ‘nothing to fear’ in their bid for a dream Double — but has warned them against saving their best performances for the Scottish Cup. The holders welcome Ayr United to Easter Road today, knowing that a victory in the last eight will take them back to Hampden for the semi-finals. Having fallen flat completely in their midweek loss at Championship bottom side St Mirren, the league leaders are desperate to bounce back. Admitting that he felt last season’s promotion attempt had been derailed by getting all the way to the final, Lennon — who replaced Alan Stubbs as manager in the summer — said: ‘Alan admitted last season that it (the Scottish Cup run) took a lot out of them. ‘And it is starting to manifest itself a little bit, mentally and physically, again. ‘I don’t want them saving their best performances for the Cup again. We haven’t played anywhere near as well as we did against Hearts (in the fifth-round replay win) in any of our league games over the last few weeks. That’s definitely a psychological thing rather than physical. ‘I’m greedy — I’d like to win both. But we’ll need to play better than we have shown in the league games over the past couple of weeks. ‘I don’t think you can ever be too wound up over the importance of it all. You have to grasp it and embrace it. ‘We’re in a great position here. We’re top of the league. We have a quarter-final at home and now have a great opportunity of getting into the semi-finals. ‘There’s nothing to fear. Take this opportunity because they don’t come around too often. We have put ourselves in a great position. ‘But this time last year we went on a run in the league of eight games without a win. ‘So we have to nip that in the bud as quickly as possible this time. ‘Obviously, our Cup form has been good, but that is four games now in the league where we have had three draws and a defeat. ‘So we have to rectify that quickly.’