Hibernian: Neil Lennon slams 'disgraceful' performance in Raith Rovers draw

Neil Lennon was incensed by Hibernian's lacklustre performance as they drew with Raith Rovers

Hibernian boss Neil Lennon lambasted his side's "awful" display in their 1-1 draw with Raith Rovers.

The point earned at Stark's Park stretched Hibs' lead at the Scottish Championship summit to seven points.

But an incensed Lennon insisted his players lacked dynamism, pace and confidence, and their performance "totally disrespected the opponent".

"We were an absolute disgrace - a disgrace," the head coach told BBC Scotland.

"We had the right colour (yellow) of jersey on today. You can't turn up and play for 30 minutes. We were abject.

"We are going for a title here and trying to extend our lead but we totally disrespected the opponent. I am not happy with that at all, and that is creeping in far too often."

Hibs fell behind to former Hearts midfielder Ryan Stevenson's half-volley in Kirkcaldy, and needed a superb free-kick from top scorer Jason Cummings to secure a point - a goal "raging" Lennon could not bring himself to celebrate.

Jason Cummings, centre, curled home a brilliant free-kick to draw Hibs level against Raith Rovers

His side take on Edinburgh rivals Hearts in Wednesday's Scottish Cup fifth-round replay, and although Lennon believes his players will deliver on derby day, he slammed their attitude against Rovers.

"We will be alright against Hearts," he said. "They will raise their game against Hearts but that is not the priority.

"Don't tell me we've got good players here - yeah, we have, but they have to be consistent. The overall performance, the lack of physicality, belief and urgency, we just never turned up and played tippy-tappy football. Against a better opponent we would have got done today.

"I thought they had learned their lesson from the home draw against Ayr United (in their previous Championship outing).

"We can raise our game for Hearts at Tynecastle, where we played strongly and concentrated and were physical, but there was none of that today until the last half-hour, when we were excellent.

"You can't give a team an hour start and a goal up at any level. I am not happy."

'We played like strangers out there'

With a seven-point buffer between Hibs and second-placed Dundee United, Lennon concedes complacency may be affecting his players' performances.

"It might be," he admitted. "It may be immaturity. The boys have got to take it on board. It wasn't good enough last season. We lost eight games last season.

"And they are going out with the same attitude that yeah, we can play good football. We can't. I know a good football team. I know what they can do.

"They have to earn the right to do that and we didn't. We played like strangers out there. No-one took any responsibility. It may seem like harsh words but I'm the manager. I have to set standards and I will have to look at my own performance as well. I didn't expect that."

Hibs and Hearts face a Scottish Cup replay at Easter Road on Wednesday after their fifth-round tie finished goalless last weekend

The head coach, who succeeded Alan Stubbs last June, insists none of his players will have grounds for complaint if they are not selected for Wednesday's showdown at Easter Road.

"They will all want to play," Lennon said. "They didn't want to play today, some of them.

"So if they are not in the team for Wednesday they can knock on my door all they want. I will just show them the first hour of the game."