Jamie Maclaren 'very close' to Hibernian return - Neil Lennon
- Published
Jamie Maclaren had the best minutes-per-goal ratio of any striker in last season's Scottish Premiership
Hibernian are "very close" to re-signing striker Jamie Maclaren, head coach Neil Lennon has revealed.
The Australian, 25, scored eight goals in 15 matches on loan at Easter Road in the second half of last season. He has two years remaining on his contract with German parent club Darmstadt.
"Jamie, very close. Close enough," Hibs boss Lennon told BBC Scotland.
"That'd be another body in, another forward, and take the pressure off Florian Kamberi and Martin Boyle."
Hibs will play Molde in the Europa League third qualifying round after Thursday's frenetic 1-1 draw with Asteras Tripolis in Greece.
Following their enthralling 3-2 first-leg win, Lennon's side progress 4-3 on aggregate, despite a nervy finale against the 10 men of Asteras.
Goalkeeper Adam Bogdan made a series of excellent stops to keep the scores level on the night, including brilliantly flicking a goal-bound header off the line.
"It was amazing," Lennon said of the save. "It was world-class. I don't know how he kept it out because it was going in all the way.
"I didn't think we defended well, or stepped onto things. We went a bit negative. We'd a brain freeze, some of them.
"But we're very inexperienced at this level. Two years ago we were playing in the Scottish Championship, now we've beaten one of the best teams in Greece."
Meanwhile, Lennon told Hibs TV the club were "waiting on the paperwork" to complete the signing of Manchester City's Ghanaian winger Thomas Agyepong.
Hibernian chief executive Leeann Dempster hailed Neil Lennon and his players
Former Hibernian midfielder Michael Stewart also praised the club's feats
Two-time Wimbledon doubles champion Jamie Murray supports Hibernian