O'Neill praises fans for supporting Lennon

Celtic 2

The midfielder was booed last Thursday for passing the ball back to his goalkeeper during a UEFA Cup semi-final draw with Boavista.

An astonished O'Neill responded by hitting out at supporters, but just days later he was overjoyed by their support of the Northern Irishman, as Celtic returned to winning ways with goals from Henrik Larsson and Stilian Petrov.

"The crowd were excellent today there were a few passes which went back before going forward and there was no reaction," he enthused. "They enjoyed that."

The manager was also relieved with his players' response after their gruelling midweek endeavours to keep on Rangers' tail. The champions are eight points behind their arch-rivals, with two games in hand and a trip to Ibrox to look forward to.

"It took a fair length of time to come and you are always a bit concerned," added O'Neill. "Kilmarnock were still in it, but we created a lot of chances in the match. I am very pleased with our performance considering the effort on Thursday night.

"I don't think it could have been a hangover, but maybe there was a bit of tiredness and that's what happens sometimes.

"But the players were up for the game and I thought we played some really terrific stuff at times."

O'Neill also hinted that Chris Sutton could be back for the return leg in Portugal after suffering a broken wrist against Rangers in the CIS Cup final.

"It's hard to say if he will be back for the Hearts game this weekend," said O'Neill. "He has had a lighter plaster put on his wrist. It is a wee bit like Stilian, who played after having a lighter cast put on.

"He will be stepping up his training by the end of the week and I wouldn't rule him out for next week, but Saturday could still be too early."

Kilmarnock manager Jim Jefferies was happy with the way his side defended, but he was far from impressed his side's forward play.

"We have come here and got beat 5-0, going on 10," he said.

"They never looked anything like organised. Today they were a lot better and we were better organised defensively, but we never created chances in the last third, which was a bit disappointing."

CELTIC: Douglas, Mjallby, Balde, Valgaeren, Agathe (Maloney 84), Lambert, Lennon, Petrov (Smith 84), Thompson, Larsson, Hartson.

KILMARNOCK: Marshall, Locke, Shields, Innes, Canero, Fowler, Mahood, Fulton, McLaren (Boyd 77), McSwegan, McDonald (McLaughlin 51).

Referee: A Freeland (Scotland).