Neil Lennon orders Hibs to finish off their opponents

Hibs boss Neil Lennon has urges his players to learn a lesson from last season if they want to build on that successful return to the Premiership.

His side ended up fourth, earning themselves a place in the Europa League, having taken the fight for the runners-up spot behind Celtic to the penultimate game of the campaign.

Lennon, however, was well aware that 13 draws, a number matched only by Hearts, had hindered their chances of finishing ahead of Aberdeen and Rangers, eight of those stalemates having come in the first half of the season, three of them in their first five matches.

Now the Edinburgh side, having beaten Motherwell on the opening day of the season, have drawn with St Johnstone and Aberdeen and Lennon believes those games should have resulted in victories which would have seen Hibs join Hearts at the top of the table instead of having just five points.

Hibs head coach Neil Lennon

He said: “I want us to start turning performances into wins because that’s what cost us last year in the first half of the season. We had 17 attempts at goal which is pretty healthy against Aberdeen and we dominated the game for long periods. All in all, I have to be happy with our performance, but I’m disappointed with a draw.”

Lennon said Hibs lacked a “bit of punch” in the final third, with the absence of Swiss striker Flo Kamberi, who is nursing a knee injury, leaving them without a physical presence although Jamie Maclaren grabbed his first goal since returning to the club to clinch a point. He said: “Oli Shaw and Martin Boyle did well but, against a big physical side, Flo is an obvious asset to us.”