Neil Lennon is enjoying a different type of title battle as his Hibernian side prepare to take on Dundee United in a key Scottish Championship clash.

The capital club are one point ahead in the race for the one automatic promotion place and they could be handed a boost with midfielder John McGinn in contention to return from injury.

The Scotland international has been out of action since November following surgery on an ankle injury and the 22-year-old could feature in Friday's crunch match.

Lennon, who guided Celtic to three league crowns and two Scottish Cup triumphs, says McGinn is "very close" to a return with his fitness to be assessed in the run up to the match.

Asked how he was enjoying the race for the title, Lennon told STV: "It's good but different. It's nice to be up there challenging.

"At Celtic we were able to forge away after a while and that's not been the case so far but we're hoping that will come with consistency of performances."

With his side ahead of United by a single point heading into their meeting, Lennon hopes memories of title chases with Celtic can help prepare his players for the months ahead.

He added: "It's not an easy thing to do but they are a talented bunch of players. They are a great bunch to work with and I've enjoyed working with them so far.

"Of course you pass on your experiences as best as you can. Hopefully they can take that out onto the pitch and deal with whatever challenges lie ahead.

"We've played well, some of the results have gone against us when we've played well but in the main I've been pretty pleased with them."