Danny Lennon says the current Hibs' squad could be the toughest he has ever faced as he prepares to take his Alloa side to Easter Road this weekend, writes Graeme Lafferty.

The Hibees have recovered from a shaky start to go four games unbeaten at home in all competitions since the opening day defeat to Rangers, and they inflicted a heavy 4-1 defeat to Lennon’s part-timers in their last visit to Leith last term.

And the Wasps boss reckons the praise must go to his counterpart Alan Stubbs for the job he has done with the Edinburgh giants.

Lennon said: “Easter Road is a tough place to go and get a positive result. In Hibs last four home games in all competitions they have won all 4 without conceding a goal. Alan Stubbs has assembled a quality side. When we played at Easter Road last season and lost 4-1.

"I felt it was the strongest, well balanced Hibs side I had competed against as a manager. We are under no illusion as to how difficult it will be for us to earn a positive result on Saturday, but hey, that is why we want to play in the Championship.

"To be able to face the challenge of playing big clubs like Hibs, in beautiful stadiums like Easter Road, in front of big crowds is the reason we are here. We are all looking forward to Saturday and are focused on bringing our best qualities into the game.”

Lennon admits his side will head for the capital full of confidence following the 2-0 win at Dumbarton last weekend and the 47-year-old expects his side to build on that success.

He said: “Who would have thought we would win 2-0 at Dumbarton on Saturday, a place where we hadn’t won for six years? We certainly believed we could and the boys executed the game plan to the letter. I was so chuffed for them as they have been working incredibly hard, but had little to show for it this season so far. That performance and result has been coming, as we have been playing some good football in patches.

“The challenge now is to bring our best football consistently throughout games, not just in patches. We want to build on the momentum of last week’s performance and result by earning a positive result on Saturday. Again, not many people would think we have a chance of doing that, but in the beautiful game, anything can and does happen.”

Many critics had written the Clackmannanshire outfit off as relegation fodder after a poor start to the SPFL Championship season, but the former St Mirren boss says his men are up for the fight.

Lennon added: “Alloa are a great club to work for and we have a squad of players that I very much believe in. Every game is a challenge for us, but a challenge that we relish and it is what we signed up for, to keep Alloa surprising people and punching above their weight.”