Lennon: ‘Complacent’ Bhoys caught napping

NEIL LENNON accused his Celtic players of believing in their own hype after the Hoops’ 17-game unbeaten run came to an unlikely end against Motherwell at Fir Park yesterday.

The Parkhead side went in to the match still basking in the glory of their 3-0 win over Old Firm rivals Rangers in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League last week and it was assumed that the trip to Lanarkshire, where they had not lost in six years, would be a formality.

However, on a threadbare Fir Park pitch, the visitors were caught napping in the second minute when a mix-up between Celtic defender Charlie Mulgrew and keeper Fraser Forster allowed John Sutton to knock the ball in to an empty net.

And at the start of the second-half, after Hoops’ left-back Emilio Izaguirre had been adjudged by referee Euan Norris to have fouled Motherwell skipper Keith Lasley in the box, Sutton blasted in the spot-kick for number two.

The Celtic boss, who revealed right-back Mark Wilson is a doubt for the Scottish Cup fifth-round replay against Rangers at Parkhead on Wednesday after sustaining an ankle injury, was unhappy with his side’s performance.

“They have had a lot of nice things said about them this week and maybe they were believing in their own publicity,” he said.

“By our performance, maybe we underestimated them.

“I didn’t sense that in the week but there was a lack of competitiveness about us and quality, we did the opposite to what we have been doing the last couple of months and to be fair to them they have been excellent so I won’t be over critical.”

Motherwell’s penalty was arguably disputable but Lennon said: “We had an opportunity to clear after Hutchinson hit the bar and it should have been cleared but it wasn’t.

“The spark wasn’t there. Usually you maybe have two or three players who are not quite at the races but to have 14 who weren’t at 100% was the disappointing thing. It is a wake-up call, you have to work hard.

“They wanted it more than us today.”

Motherwell boss Stuart McCall insisted his players deserved all the praise.

The former Rangers and Scotland midfielder said: “It was the best result and performances since I came here.

“It was an outstanding performance of grit and determination and football. I think we just about merited the victory.

“But it was nothing to do with me, it was down to the players.

“It helped getting an early goal but they kept up the work rate and endeavour and it makes me a proud manager.”

Meanwhile Nikica Jelavic grabbed a double as Rangers steered their Clydesdale Bank Premier League title bid back on track by moving to within five points of Celtic again with a 4-0 win over St Johnstone.

Kyle Lafferty and Sasa Papac were also on the scoresheet on what was a comfortable afternoon at Ibrox.

With two games in hand over the SPL leaders, the victory over Saints means the destiny of the championship is again back in Rangers’ own hands if they can take maximum points from those outstanding fixtures.

MOTHERWELL: Randolph, Hateley, Hutchinson, Gunning, Hammell, Humphrey, Lasley, Jennings, Forbes (Pollock 75), Sutton, Murphy.

CELTIC: Forster, Wilson (Samaras 52), Majstorovic, Mulgrew, Izaguirre, Brown, Ki (Forrest 66), Ledley, Commons, Hooper, Stokes (Juarez 52).

Ref: Euan Norris (Scotland).