Neil Lennon tells rivals Hibs will get even better after 4-0 rout

Neil Lennon described Hibs' performance as they crushed Queen of the South as one of the best he's ever enjoyed as a manager '“ and then warned the rest of the Championship that the title favourites are going to get even better.

Brian Graham, who scored the first goal, celebrates as David Gray makes it 3-0 against Queen of the South at Easter Road. Pic: SNS

The 4-0 win – Lennon insisted the margin of victory could easily have been double that total – took the Capital side three points clear of Dundee United, who they face in their next match a week on Friday at Tannadice.

As he’s become increasingly happier with Hibs’ all-round performances in recent weeks Lennon had confidently predicted a top-class display from his players and he declared few sides in the country would have been able to live with his team on such form.

Power, intensity, hunger and quality were all words used by Lennon to describe the attributes which had led to such a comfortable win, before saying: “We have been playing well for a month or more now.

“The level of performance has been very high. The players did everything I wanted them to do. We looked powerful, intense, hungry and the quality of the football and the chances we created was superb.

“That was a benchmark for them but they are getting better as the season progresses. We were frustrated against Falkirk last week but the performance was still very good.

“There’s a hunger about them. They are playing at a really high tempo and teams are struggling to live with us at the minute.

“The fitness levels are good, the football is very, very good but we’ve got to carry that forward. That’s what you have to do at this time of year, to find that consistency. And in the last five or six games I’ve been really pleased with the consistency we have shown.

“I’ve been pleased in the main with the way we have been playing. I’ve not felt we’ve been in any trouble against any opposition.

“In my time as a manager at any club I have been at this was one of the best performances I have seen against any opposition. I don’t think there there would be many teams in the country, bar the top ones, that could have lived with us.”

The trip to Tayside offers Hibs the chance to open up a six-point gap on the team looked upon as their biggest rivals for the title, but while acknowledging the clash with United represents a “big test for us”, Lennon added: “We’re going into it knowing I couldn’t have asked for a better performance than we put in against Queens.”