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Hibs head coach Neil Lennon insists being in contention for a league and cup double is all the more impressive given his side’s injury woe.
The Championship leaders return to league action in Friday’s televised clash at fellow promotion hopefuls Dundee United after the Scottish Cup holders booked a semi-final place against Aberdeen following a 3-1 victory over Ayr United on Saturday.
And Lennon insists his team deserve credit for fighting on two fronts despite having been plagued by injury problems during the campaign.
Goalkeeper Ofir Marciano has endured two injury lay-offs this term, while midfielders John McGinn, Fraser Fyvie and Dylan McGeouch have faced time out.
Lennon bolstered his defensive options last week with the recruitment of Efe Ambrose and Brian McLean after Paul Hanlon, Jordon Forster and Liam Fontaine all recently spent time on the sidelines.
Despite being well aware that a greater number of games could leave his players fatigued, former Celtic manager Lennon would love to deliver the double.
He said: “I just want to play games, as a player I would want to be in every competition and I’ve said that to the players, ‘why not? Why not go for it?’
“We’ve put ourselves in a great position, we’re in a great position in the league and in the semi-final of a cup.
“We’ve done it without our goalkeeper for large parts of the season, with three midfielders being out at one period of time and with three central defenders being out at one period of time.
“The squad can be very proud of what they’ve done so far but we’ve done nothing yet, we’ve still got a bit of work to do.”
After coming through five games in an exhausting 15 day period, Lennon, whose team are six points clear of Falkirk at the summit, is planning to make sure his side properly recovery in time for the clash against third place United at Tannadice.
He added: “We’ll give them some rest, they’ve had a heavy schedule and then all our focus will be on Dundee United, a game to really look forward to.
“They’ve put themselves in a confident mood again with a really empathic performance against Ayr United. Our attitude was spot on.”
