David Gray rejects Neil Lennon's Hibs claim as gutted boss defends team selection despite shock Scottish Cup exit

The Hibees were sent tumbling out of the Scottish Cup by Championship side Dunfermline

Neil Lennon hailed his Dunfermline players for causing a Scottish Cup shock - and insists David Gray's tinkering gave him a pre-match boost.

Miguel Chaiwa’s injury-time own goal earned the Championship side a spot in the last-16 of the competition after they went toe-to-toe with the Leith outfit in a hard fought contest. Hibs gaffer Gray - who played under Lennon at Easter Road - made four changes to his team for the trip to East End Park.

Skipper Joe Newell, Rocky Bushiri, Thibault Klidje and Junior Hoilett all came in for the clash. And despite wasting two good chances either side of the break through Kieron Bowie and Klidje, the visitors struggled to get any foothold in the match.

And former Hibs and Celtic boss Lennon was thrilled to see his team send Hibs crashing out of the competition.

Lennon, who handed debuts to Olly Thomas and Callumn Morrison, said: “We've taken a big scalp here today and it should give the players a lot more belief in themselves and give them a taste of what could be in a club like this. I think everyone had written us off, I got a wee bit of a lift when I saw their team.

“I thought they made a lot of changes. I thought, okay, this might work in our favour. They did bring on some big players in the second half. I don't know (if Hibs took us lightly) but I thought he was going to go strong to start with, but I'm not going to tell David what to do with his team.

“We try to be as strong as we can. We timed it perfectly at the end. I said to my coaches with half an hour to go I think this is a 1-0 game, so it could go either way. And thankfully for us it went our way. I thought our shape was good but I didn't think we played as well as we could have done in the first half.

“At half time we told them to play with a bit more positivity in the final third, a bit more belief. They had one great chance in the second half for the header and then the Bowie chance first half. So it was a game limited of chances because I thought both teams sort of cancelled each other out really.”

Nearly 5,000 Hibs fans made the short trip across the Forth for this clash and they contributed to a terrific atmosphere inside a packed out East End Park. The Hibs fans should have been celebrating an opening goal seven minutes before the break in what was a tight first half.

Scotland international Bowie was sent through one-on-one with Deniz Mehmet from a Junior Hoilett pass but his shot struck the goalkeeper’s legs.

Dunfermline rallied at the start of the second period and Hibs goalkeeper Rafa Sallinger did well to beat away a fizzing drive from Andrew Tod after the striker ran onto Zac Rudden’s knock down

Hibs forward Junior Hoilett then had a half-volley pushed over by Mehmet before the Dunfermline goalkeeper kept out Klidje from close range. The club record signing met Jordan Obita’s cross but could only head straight at Mehmet from six yards.

And that missed chance came back to haunt Hibs as Dunfermline forced home the only goal in injury time. Kieron Ngwenya, who had a shot palmed over by Sallinger moments earlier, headed Matty Todd’s corner back into the mix and the ball hit the back of Miguel Chaiwa before rolling home.

That sparked a mini-pitch invasion from the home fans as Dunfermline edged towards a famous win. But Hibs boss Gray was adamant that he did not play a weakened team in the clash.

Asked about Lennon’s comments, Gray said: “Three full internationals and your club captain come in. I think my team is strong. I have tough decisions every single week and the 11 that goes on the pitch has got responsibility to play at a certain level because then the squad's then strong enough to come in off the back of it.

“So in terms of getting lifts, getting whatever, I think everyone looks at their own situation. Every player that gets the opportunity to play for this football club has got the responsibility to play to the best of their ability. And unfortunately today we didn't have enough that did.”

And Gray admits he was gutted he could not send a huge travelling support away happy.

He added: “You can never accept going out in the cup. And I think I mean that with the greatest of respect to Dunfermline, congratulations to them. They scored the goal and deserved to go through.

“I can't stand here and say we did, which is extremely tough to take. I think the 5,000 supporters that came are all going home disappointed and rightly so.

“I need to own that, the players need to own that and we need to bounce back as quickly as we possibly can. It's an incredibly well-supported club. The passion's there, the togetherness is there and unfortunately today we've let them down.”

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