BY ALAN TEMPLE – @CCP_Sport
NEIL LENNON has delivered a bruising critique of Jason Cummings by accusing the striker of not contributing enough to the Hibs side after a wasteful showing against Queen of the South.
The Scotland under-21 internationalist has already bagged eight goals this term but has been guilty of missing a host of chances in recent outings, with Lennon demanding more from him after the recent 1-0 win at Dumbarton.
It was deja vu all over against at Palmerston Park as he missed two glorious close-range opportunities to send the Hibees back to the summit of the Championship,
Instead, Queens retained top spot with a hard-fought 0-0 draw which also saw Lewis Stevenson dismissed in the second period.
While blunt in his assessment of Cummings, Lennon also questioned why the likes of Grant Holt, Martin Boyle, James Keatings and Brian Graham – with four goals between them – are not getting on the end of chances.
“My attacking players were poor and this needs to be addressed,” said a frustrated Lennon.
“Jason [Cummings] has missed two gilt-edged chances – a header from five yards, and one from a corner where the ball drops to him two yards from goal. All he has to do is make decent contact and we are a goal up.
“We should be doing better in the final third. These chances all seem to fall to Jason. Listen, he is a good goalscorer but, if he isn’t scoring goals, then he isn’t bringing much to the team at the minute. He needs to do better.
“We are dominating games and creating chances and the vast majority come to Jason. So, we can ask the others ‘where are you? Why is everything falling to Jason?’
“I don’t want to be too critical, and there are parts of Jason’s game he needs to tidy up, but we can’t keep relying on him. We set high standards and I want to make the players better.”
