Neil Lennon played down the "hype" surrounding Steven Gerrard's impact on Rangers, with the Hibs head coach insisting not much was required to improve the Light Blues' fortunes.

Lennon's outfit finished just behind the Ibrox side in fourth place last campaign whilst Aberdeen finished second.

Hibs host the Dons this weekend, whilst Rangers travel to Motherwell.

On the battle for second this season, Lennon acknowledged there had been "significant improvement" at Ibrox but reasoned it was a fairly simple task given the resources at the club.

He said: "It's too early to say if Celtic and Rangers are going to be the top two teams.

"There is obviously a significant improvement at Rangers but, for me, it wasn't that major a job to do.

"It wasn't a great season for them last year and they are investing which ourselves, Hearts and Aberdeen can't do.

"But on any given day any team can be beaten, I still think Celtic will win the league, whether the gap gets closer remains to be seen.

"They've been playing Champions League games and that stands them in good stead when they come back to domestic football.

"As for second place , you'd have to say Rangers would be firm favourites for that but I don't believe the hype.

"There is a lot of hysteria around big clubs in Scotland, England and elsewhere and then you sit down and watch the games and think 'I'm not so sure'.

"We'll just look to improve on last season if we can, it will be tough with the loss of McGinn and the fact we did brilliantly in the second half of the season."