Neil Lennon warns of big tests ahead as Hibs narrow gap at top

Hibs have cut the gap to leaders Hearts to two points following the thrashing of Hamilton

Hibs clocked up their fourth successive league victory, a 6-0 thrashing of Hamilton following Ladbrokes Premiership wins against Kilmarnock, Dundee and St Mirren. However, while confessing he is “very, very pleased” with what he is currently seeing from his players – their 19 goals making them the top-flight’s top scorers – Lennon continues to insist his new-look squad remains a work in progress.

Lennon, whose side face Celtic away in their next Premiership fixture on October 20, said: “It is only eight games. After 20 we will see where we are. We have maybe been fortunate with the run of games we have had, but we have some big games coming up that will test us. We’ve still got to play Celtic, Rangers and Hearts.”

Hibs’ recent form has raised hopes among fans that they could be in for a repeat of last season when the Edinburgh club was in the running to finish second until the penultimate game, eventually finishing fourth which, in itself, was an impressive return to the Premiership following three years in the second tier.

However, with Hearts much stronger under Craig Levein and Rangers resurgent with Steven Gerrard at the helm, Lennon said: “It’s going to be very difficult to emulate what we did, 67 points and almost finishing second.

“We’re looking to try to emulate it if we can but we are only a few games in so we are not getting excited.”

Asked if he has been happy that much of the attention has been on Hearts so far this season, allowing Hibs to fly under the radar, Lennon said: “Hearts are not my concern. They have had a brilliant start but I have not looked at them.

“They’ve had a lot of talk about them but we had a job to do here building a team. Slowly but surely it’s starting to take effect.

“It was important to beat Hamilton with the teams around us winning their games but we are going to be tested more over the next few weeks.”