STOKES RAN OUT OF CHANCES HERE, SAYS LENNON

NEIL LENNON last night admitted that Anthony Stokes ran out of chances at Hibs after his latest bout of indiscipline — leaving the manager with little choice but to rip up the striker’s contract. Speaking after the Irishman left the club by mutual consent just six months into his third spell at Easter Road, Lennon confessed to being ‘very disappointed’ by the outcome. But he revealed: ‘There are only so many times you can go to the well and push the envelope. ‘I have to do what I think is best for Hibs, the supporters, the board and — most importantly — that group of players who have done wonders for this club over the last couple of years. ‘There is a line I won’t tolerate and Anthony had plenty of chances not to cross that. Yes (he has got talent) but we’ve been saying that for years. ‘I can’t keep rapping him on the knuckles and saying: “It’s all right”.’ Stokes’ latest misdemeanour saw him break a curfew during the club’s training camp in Portugal. He was also involved in a training-ground bust-up with Lennon in November. Meanwhile, the Hibs boss has vowed to drag Scott Allan back to his best at Easter Road after insisting the talented midfielder has been ‘plodding’ for too long. Dundee’s on-loan Celtic star last night sealed a temporary move that has seen Simon Murray go to Dundee and Scott Bain move to Celtic, both on loans. ‘I want him to fulfil his talent here,’ said Lennon. ‘He’s been plodding along a little bit. A player of that talent should be doing more. It’s my job to push him on. ‘It’s a loan. Scott’s a Celtic player so it’s something we maybe look at later on. ‘He had a very good spell here before — and I hope he can replicate that.’ Lennon also signed free agent Cammy Bell after the keeper was released by Kilmarnock, but Lithuanian striker Deivydas Matulevicius has left by mutual consent. The manager was pleased with new signing Florian Kamberi’s goalscoring debut in last night’s 2-1 home win over Motherwell. ‘He was superb. I thought we might get 70 minutes out of him. ‘But he had to stay on because of injuries and gave us a different dimension, scored a fantastic goal. ‘I’m not getting carried away. But he’s every right to be pleased with his start. It’s such a massive win for us.’ Motherwell boss Stephen Robinson, who earlier in the day signed full-back Stephen Hendrie on loan from Southend, said: ‘We played really, really well tonight but came out with nothing. We’re going to play a lot worse and win.’