Hibernian 0-1 Hearts: Neil Lennon - 'We need to get better strikers in January'
- Published
Neil Lennon was not happy with his Hibernian side after their 1-0 defeat to Hearts
Hibernian manager Neil Lennon insists his squad are desperate for attacking reinforcements in January to avoid a bottom-six finish in the Premiership.
Saturday's 1-0 home defeat by Hearts leaves the Leith outfit in eighth place heading into the winter break - seven points adrift of their city rivals.
Lennon has targeted at least "two or three" players to overhaul his squad.
"Our strikers haven't been firing, and that needs to be addressed - by getting better ones in," he told BBC Scotland.
"We are not scoring enough goals, or wanting to score enough goals. It is easy to be critical of the strikers - it is a team effort - but we had plenty of the game, plenty of balls flashing across the box but we don't react to a lot of things.
"We're not physical enough or creative enough; tonight's a prime example. It needs to be addressed in January."
Lennon has been critical of Florian Kamberi recently, and felt the Swiss striker was "off the pace" against Hearts after being "very good" in the 1-1 draw at Rangers on Wednesday.
"I'm not going to call out Flo publicly," he said. "I did that before and got a reaction. He wasn't at his best tonight, but he's a young player still learning the game.
"We lost some really good players last year and we sold some players for money. If we want to have an impact on the top six or even the top four, then we have to replace these players. Obviously we might not get the same amount of quality but I need robust players as well.
"I am fed up with all the injuries. Almost every week we have got players breaking down and crying off with injuries."
Hibs saw John McGinn and Dylan McGeouch - key components of their midfield - depart in the summer, while Scott Allan and Brandon Barker returned to Celtic and Manchester City respectively after loan spells.
They were without absent trio Martin Boyle, Mark Milligan and Jamie Maclaren - away on international duty with Australia - against Hearts, while a lengthy injury list includes Ofir Marciano, Lewis Stevenson, Ryan Porteous and Thomas Agyepong.
"Our recruitment could have been better in the summer, and I have to take some responsibility for that," Lennon added.
"We are looking to bring in two or three players, particularly in the final third to give us some more dynamism and creativity. I want our fans to be excited coming here, but at the moment I don't think they are getting that.
"If we don't improve we'll finish in the bottom six."