NEIL LENNON hailed Celtic target John McGinn after Hibs’ remarkable 6-4 Europa League qualifying triumph over Faroese opponents Runavik last night.
The Edinburgh side have already knocked back two bids for the tenacious Scotland international from the Hoops, but the Easter Road boss admitted “that may change”.
Lennon watched a crazy 90 minutes from the stand as he served his penultimate UEFA ban, punishment for his angry exchange with a referee against Brondby two years ago.
McGinn’s appearance now rules him out of the Parkhead outfit’s Champions League qualifiers – if a deal is struck between the teams before next month’s transfer deadline is reached.
The 23-year-old midfielder is, of course, is a free agent next summer and can agree a pre-contract with another club in January.
Lennon said: “I was so pleased with John, the best thing was to get him playing and focusing on his job.
“He looked fit and his passing was good and showed he’s very much a Hibs player.
“That may change in the next week with a club or any other club that may come in for him.
“We have our valuation of the player, we said we would play him and we played him.”
On the game, the former Parkhead gaffer added: “It was bizarre and we were sloppy at the back at times.
“Going forward we were decent, but it was no litmus test for what we’ll face against Asteras.
“We had to get the game out of the way as some of them needed it as they were rusty.
“I can’t be overcritical of them as we negotiated the tie okay. We won’t be as careless or sloppy as that against better opposition.”
Hibs, who claimed a 12-5 aggregate win over the Faroese minnows, now meet Greek Superleague side Asteras Tripoli in the next round.
