Alloa boss Danny Lennon defiant his men can still turn their season around as Hibs crunch

The Wasps are in the midst of a miserable run of eight games without a win, including five straight defeats, and the 47-year-old admits the whole club have had to do some soul searching this week in the wake of the 5-0 humiliation at the hands of rivals Falkirk.

But the gaffer is still convinced he has the players within his dressing room to get them back on track. 

Lennon told Advertiser sport: “There is no doubt about it that we are going through a storm at this moment in time, but all storms come to an end. We always knew the task ahead of us this season with such a big turn around of players in the summer, but my coaches, players and I must all hold our hands up and acknowledge that we have had a poor league campaign so far. It is all our loyal supporters we feel for the most. They invest so much of their time, money and emotions into this club every season and so we see it as a major challenge to put things right for them and stay in this division. We deeply value the support and opinions of our fans and we only ask them to stand with us as we endeavour to turn our season around. 

“We know we can do better than we have done this season and I certainly know I have the characters in my dressing room with the fight and determination to deliver.“It really hurt me to see the lack of fight against Falkirk last week, but hopefully we have now addressed that with the players. I believe we still have the spirit and characters in or dressing room to change things. They have shown in spells what they can do and so we now need them to step up and produce it every saturday because that’s what it is going to take to stop this rot that we find ourselves in.”

Lennon is well aware of task facing his side on Saturday as Alan Stubbs brings his in-form Hibernian side to the Indodrill Stadium, and the Wasps boss know they will be up against it to put a dent in the Leith side’s title bid. 

But he still reckons his players can give them something to think about on Saturday and they only have to look to relegation rivals Livingston as an example of how to turn around such a bad start to the SPFL Championship season. 

He said: “I never seen Hibs in midweek, but by all accounts they weren’t in full flow and you have to give Livingston a great deal of credit for that. They still won the game and they certainly pose a great threat with some wonderful players who can score goals and hurt you. They’re still playing on a massive high at the moment with their unbeaten run and the defeat of Rangers. I believe they’re a threat to the automatic spot and not just through the playoffs and no one can deny their claim. To face them in this kind of mood will be very challenging for us, but that is the manner of the league we are in and we now need to show that we are ready for the battle. If we can show the same level of fight that we have seen in flashes this season then I am convinced we can take something from the game. 

“For the motivation to recover from such a bad start, I think we only have to look to Livingston last season who went on an incredible late run of form to avoid even the playoffs after being bottom for much of the season so it can be done. We know we must improve our form and results to do that because the levels of performance shown so far in the main have been unacceptable and that has to change.”

The former St Mirren boss was lauded in his spell with the Paisley club for the way he nurtured through some great young talent. 

Now with top team stars such as Colin Hamilton, Iain Flannigan, and Jason Marr all in a race against time to be fit for Saturday, he has made it clear that he is not afraid to go with the kids once again. 

Lennon added: “I have always been a big fan of playing the youth. It was playing the kids at St Mirren that got me out of some tough spells so I am certainly not afraid to do it again if they are good enough. Three have played in our last two games and one thing they bring is that youthful exuberance and a fearlessness of the situation, so they can certainly play a part for us.”