Fenlon looks to siege mentality to boost Hibs

Hibs, four points clear of bottom club Dunfermline in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League, yesterday issued a statement which read: “Contrary to a report, (striker) Leigh Griffiths did not headbutt manager Pat Fenlon nor punch assistant manager Billy Brown.”

Fenlon today declined to comment on the reported incident at Hibs’ training ground and would not discuss a reported fine for Martin Scott after the midfielder was said to have missed a training session.

“I’m only here to talk about football and that’s it,” Fenlon said ahead of Saturday’s SPL clash at home to Dundee United.

“Since I’ve come in here (in November) I’ve been as honest as I can with the press and that works both ways as far as I’m concerned.

“Whatever happens in here, as far as I’m concerned, will stay in here. If other people want to go outside, that’s fine. We’ll put a stop to that fairly sharpish.

“I’m disappointed, that’s for certain. But it’s a lesson learned from my point of view.

“Everything’s a test of how you are as a manager and whatever’s thrown at you you’ve got to try to deal with that and that’s what I’ll try to do.”

Fenlon believes the reports could galvanise his relegation-threatened side, who are still reeling after last week’s 2-0 loss to Hearts which extended their winless run in Edinburgh derbies to 10 games.

The Irishman added: “Saturday afternoon will tell. It doesn’t help. Sometimes you can get different reactions from different things.

“The morale has been very good. We had 45 minutes against Hearts when we didn’t play well and because it’s Hearts people read more into it than any other game.

“The players have worked really hard since I’ve been here, both on the pitch and off it, in training, everything else.”

Hibs were unbeaten in three matches prior to the Tynecastle loss and Fenlon is eager for further success in the next three matches against United, Inverness and Motherwell before the SPL splits for the final five games of the campaign.

“We’ve got a lot of tough games coming up that we’ve got to focus on and make sure we get some points,” added Fenlon, who wants to cut the five-point gap to 10th-placed Inverness.

“We’ve got big games coming up before the split and we’d like to get ourselves a little bit of breathing space before that if we can and drag a few other teams into it as well, rather than just worry about Dunfermline.

“If we can win a few games on the bounce that should maybe bring other people into the equation. That would be interesting if we can get to that stage, we’ll see what happens.”

The appointment of Jim Jefferies as Dunfermline boss in place of Jim McIntyre has shaken up the relegation fight a little, but Fenlon is concerned only with results at Hibs.

He said: “It’s nothing to do with me, I can’t do anything about it. I’m just focusing on what we’re trying to do.

“I don’t know Jim that well. I’ve met him once or twice, he seems a good guy and his record in the game is fantastic.

“We’ve just got to make sure we get results.”