Hibs' Jason Cummings feeling happy, home and away

Hibernian striker Jason Cummings scores his sides second and decisive goal against Falkirk. Picture: SNS

Creature comforts were cited by Jason Cummings at the reason for him being a happy Hibee despite being wanted elsewhere.

His post-match comments at Fallkirk rivalled his match- winning double in the club’s Championship opener for headline-grabbing.

The highlight was his line about feeling – aged 21 and a matter of days – that he wasn’t ready to move away from Edinburgh as he couldn’t even boil an egg and relied on his mum for everything. It was almost up there with his 2014 quip about having a left foot so good he could open a can of beans.

Off the field, beans, eggs and harmonious domesticity might be key for Cummings, who new manager Neil Lennon, pictured right, said his club were in no way tempted to sell for the “fair” offer of £1.7m from Peterborough.

On the field, the team around which Lennon wants to derive full value from his goalscorer’s burgeoning talents looks like it might be meatier and more willing to scrap than previously. It was notable how much grief Hibs caused Falkirk with balls over the top,
and Cummings’ imperious finish for his second just after the break was the product of a pass lofted by Grant Holt.

With his first, which came after 88 seconds, Cumming made Falkirk keeper Danny Rogers pay for pushing a James Keatings shot into the middle of his goal.

Yet, if the day belonged to the crackerjack Cummings, whose goals took his career tally to 50, the smoking long-range drive from Craig Sibbald that made it 1-1 inside 10 minutes meant Lennon’s side were always vulnerable to an equaliser.

Nevertheless, the Irishman was delivered victory in his opening domestic encounter with impressive robustness.

Midfielder John McGinn alighted on the fact that Hibs intend to toughen up as they seek to avoid a fourth season exiled from the top flight in a set-up where they – with the Scottish Cup in their cabinet and 10,000 season ticket holders – are now the biggest name.

“We’ll be a scalp last season like Hibs always are,” he said. “Last season we weren’t prepared for that and this season things are going to be different. There’s a different mentality around the place. We have brought in a bigger physical presence and we won’t be messed about like we were last season. Experience will help us too. There’s a positive feeling about the club. Off and on the pitch. I remember playing at Easter Road a few years ago [with St Mirren] and the mood was different so it’s a nice environment to be in.”

It is an environment in which McGinn is convinced that room-mate Cummings can grow. Lennon already sort-of tagged him a £5m player – that being the “silly money” that would cause Hibs to cash in on him.

“You are guaranteed goals with him,” he said. “So I don’t know what price you can put on that. As long as he’s here and he’s happy he’ll be fine because he is enjoying playing for us. We’re enjoying playing with him and we don’t want him to leave,” he said of his friend, who only last month signed a four-year deal .

“I’m sure he’ll be attracting attention from bigger clubs. They only needed to watch the Falkirk performance to see what he’s got. We were lucky last season to have a really good manager and we’ve got a really good manager this season, too.

“Any player here, their flaws have been highlighted and they are all getting better and better. There’s no limits to how far he can go. He’s added a few other things to his game, too – he can take the hits and he can link people into the game. I’m sure this is the right place for him.”