Neil Lennon warms to the idea of pre-season games ahead of cup match

Neil Lennon hated pre-season clashes as a player - but admits he has lapped up his Hibernian side's displays during this term's warm-up games.

The Easter Road boss believes his men are shaping up well after registering friendly wins over Dunfermline and Berwick Rangers, as well as a decent draw with Sunderland in Lewis Stevenson's Testimonial.

The Leith side will now get down to competitive action when they kick off their Betfred Cup campaign at home to Montrose on Saturday.

And Lennon is predicting big things from his side.

The former Celtic and Bolton boss told HibsTV: I was never a lover of pre-season when I played and as a manager I never paid to much attention to the results either. It was all about getting the players fit.

But I've been pleased so far, the players have done very well.

I've not done great in pre-season games as a manager but this season has been a mild surprise really. The guys have really impressed me.

We know what is ahead of us and we know what's at stake in the Betfred Cup. We want to go as far in the competition as we can, if not win it.

So Montrose is the first step towards that and we want to get off to a decent start.''

Lennon has confirmed defender Efe Ambrose has finally reported back to the club two days late.

The Nigerian blamed his delay on a personal matter'' and Lennon says it has now been resolved.

However, he will not feature against the Gable Endies although he could make his return against Group D rivals Ross County on July 21