Hibs boss Jack Ross won't be drawn on talk suggesting he will replace Celtic's Neil Lennon

Hibs manager Jack Ross has refused to comment on rumours linking him with a move to Celtic, should Neil Lennon fail to turnaround fortunes at Parkhead. But he has said that he is enjoying his time at Hibs.

Hibs boss Jack Ross and current Celtic manager Neil Lennon.

The Easter Road club’s sporting director Graeme Mathie, speaking to the Edinburgh Evening News, revealed that they were working on contingency plans should the chatter become reality, but ahead of his side’s Premiership to Hamilton, where they could move into second place ahead of the defending champions, Ross said he was “not planning on going anywhere soon”.

“If Graeme is saying that he’s only doing his job properly, but from my point of view I am very much enjoying the job and very happy where I am at the moment,” said Ross

Celtic defeated Lille in Europa League action last night and Lennon has received backing from the board, who despite protests from fans have said his position will not be reviewed until at least the new year, and, with a manager still in situ, Ross said it would be wrong to comment on specific rumours.

“I don’t think you’d be surprised to learn that I wouldn’t comment on that at all. Somebody is in that job and it’s one of the biggest jobs in British football. So, it’s about me concentrating on doing my job here as well as I can.”

Explaining that he feels that working at Hibs has been a “really good fit”, Ross added: “I really enjoy the club and the progress we have made so far and it’s about trying to push us as hard as I can and as far as we can.

“I do feel with the ownership here, I have a good relationship with Ron [Gordon, Hibs chairman] and I feel his plans for the club and where I can push us on the playing side are in alignment.

“So you can never say for certain because it is such an unpredictable profession, but certainly at the moment there is a lot of contentment both professionally and personally.”

However, Ross refused to hide his professional ambitions, admitting that he wants “to be the best I can every single day. I try to keep getting better.

“It’s always attractive [to have a sustained period of time to build at a club]. But, it isn’t that often in football that time is afforded to managers, for a variety of reasons, not just the negative ones.

“I probably got opportunities to move through teams doing well and the clamour for change and the turnover of managers and coaches is far greater than it has been in the past, so that is a factor.

“In the space of two years I found myself managing Alloa and then Sunderland so it was quite a dramatic change in a short period of time and I had to cram a lot of learning into that couple of years.

“I feel as if I am still doing that and I don;t think that is ever going to end for me, I just want to be as good as I can be at this job.

“I very much enjoy it, once people get insight into it, it can be a lot different to their expectations but I am fortunate to do something I enjoy very much as well.”

A message from the Editor: Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers. If you haven't already, please consider supporting our sports coverage with a digital sports subscription.