Neil Lennon hails Hibs' character in defeat of Livingston

Neil Lennon praised the character of his Hibs team after defeating Livingston. Picture: SNS.

It took a penalty by Anthony Stokes eight minutes from time against Championship side Livingston to see them through to next month’s last- four showdown in the  Betfred Cup.

But manager Neil Lennon, pictured, who slammed his players after their weekend draw with Motherwell, hailed his side, delighted to see them march into their fifth semi-final in the last six cup competitions. “I thought we were excellent and, from an attacking point of view, we could have scored three goals in the first ten minutes, and there is no criticism of the players this time. ”

Lennon added: “The character of the team shone through and I am a very happy man. We scored two beautiful goals, we got the penalty and Stokes put it away, and we have a big semi-final draw to look forward to. I am proud of that. ”

Goals by Danny Swanson and Martin Boyle saw the Easter Road fight back twice, cancelling efforts by Alan Lithgow and then Raffaele De Vita before Paul Hanlon was felled in the 82nd minute to gift the home side what Livvy boss David Hopkin described as a “contentious penalty”.

Hopkin questioned the decision-making of referee Bobby Madden ahead of Hibs’ second and at the penalty. “The second one was embarrassing,” he said. “It was not a free-kick. It was not even a corner and Hibs got their second goal from it. Some of Bobby’s decisions baffled me.

“I’ve watched it back and I didn’t think it was a penalty. It was soft.”