Win tonight and the title is all ours, says Lennon

WITH five titles as a player and three as a manager on his CV, winning leagues might well be considered Neil Lennon’s specialist subject.

So while rudimentary arithmetic dictates that a Hibernian win against Morton this evening will not quite see the Easter Road club over the line in the Championship, the Northern Irishman’s experience tells him that a quiet moment of satisfaction at a job nearly done would not be premature.

Three points would leave the pre-season favourites 13 points ahead of their challengers with just six games to go.

When asked if such a scenario would mean the title race was all over bar the shouting, the Hibs boss said: ‘I think so. ‘Mathematically it’s not but, psychologically, I’d imagine it would take the mother of all collapses for us to give anyone a sniff.

‘We are not looking that far ahead. If we are going to win the game, we will need to play very strongly.

‘Morton will come here on the back of a defeat (at home to Dunfermline) motivated to put one over on us.

‘They’ve had a great season and are a very difficult team to play against.

‘But we have earned the right to be here. We have been pretty consistent, although there have been a few bumps along the way.’

It’s been a curious journey to date. Most of the bumps Lennon refers to came when they were least expected, resulting in some ten points being spilled in the ten games against the bottom three clubs.

The flip side of the coin has been evidence of a big-game mentality. Only nine points have been lost in the nine games against the three sides sitting in the play-off places.

Whatever improvements are still needed, Lennon knows that a team once synonymous with failing to compete on the big occasions have at least shed that unwanted reputation.

‘It has been particularly satisfying the way they have handled the big games,’ he added. ‘When we conceded on Saturday (against Falkirk) so soon after scoring, there was no real panic.

‘They still believed they could get the win when a draw would have been fine.

‘They kept going and got the win I felt they deserved against a good team.

‘I want them to turn up in all the games as there is still a level of inconsistency. That may take time to crack, but certainly in the big games they have done well.

‘Three games in, we went to Brondby under difficult circumstances and won. I thought then we may have something to work with here.

‘The mentality of the team was good and we were unlucky not to knock them out.

‘I’ve seen that in abundance as the season has gone on.’

With Lennon (below) having played and managed at the highest level, it was relevant to ask him last summer if the Scottish Championship was, in a sense, beneath him. He viewed it as no such thing.

‘It has been a pressure. But I have enjoyed the pressure and the challenge,’ he said. ‘It has been frustrating at times but the division has been harder than I thought because it was so competitive.

‘The expectation was we would skoosh this league. That was never going to be the case.

‘All the teams are competitive. St Mirren are bottom of the league and they have 27 points.

‘I think Alloa went down with 21 points. The gap has closed.

‘Everyone is playing for something, whether that be promotion, play-offs or the relegation issue.’

As determined as Lennon has been to defend the Scottish Cup won by Alan Stubbs, there is no question that defending the trophy has been a distraction to the main business of securing the title.

A semi-final with Aberdeen on April 22 awaits and the perfect scenario would be arithmetically getting over the line in the four games that precede that.

‘That would be ideal but nothing is ever given to you,’ said Lennon. ‘We’ll have to win the games to have that luxury.’

Paul Hanlon, who made his return from injury as a late sub against Falkirk, is ready to start tonight but Andrew Shinnie and David Gray will need to wait until the weekend trip to Dunfermline to fully shake off knocks.

Also champing at the bit is John McGinn, who missed the Falkirk game on account of being in the Scotland squad which defeated Slovenia.

After watching James Keatings’ winner from the national team’s hotel, the 22-year-old is determined to wrap up the title to make sure such absences are a thing of the past. ‘I managed to get the Hibs game on the iPad in my hotel room and I think the entire hotel heard my celebration when Keatsy unleashed that goal,’ he said. ‘It was a strange situation, but the important thing was Hibs managed to get another important three points and so did Scotland.’