Celtic hit by Lennon inquiry

Martin O’Neill was today left counting the cost of victory after Celtic booked their place in the fourth round of the UEFA Cup.

The Scottish champions have confirmed midfielder Neil Lennon will be out of action until after the winter break after tearing his hamstring during last night’s encounter with Celta Vigo.

The Celtic boss revealed: “Neil has done his hamstring which means he will be out for the whole festive program, which is a huge blow for us.”

That came quickly after the news that last night’s goal hero in Spain, John Hartson, would miss the first leg against Stuttgart after picking up his third booking of the competition.

A UEFA spokesperson said: “John Hartson was on the verge of a suspension having being booked twice, but now that sent him through the threshold and he misses the next game.”

But it was unlikely that anything could have upset O’Neill today as it began to sink in that his team would be playing in Europe into the new year for the first time in 23 years.

He enthused: “It was a fantastic achievement for us to beat a Spanish side, something we have never done before.

“Last year we were put out on penalties by the eventual Spanish champions and it was nice to go through against a team who are riding so high in La Liga.

“To be able to look forward to European football after Christmas is fantastic and it is something that we will enjoy.”

The Scottish champions will now concentrate on trying to reclaim their place at the top of the Scottish Premier League with the next round of the UEFA Cup not until February.

But they be without midfielder Lennon for their games against Kilmarnock, Dundee, Hearts, Dunfermline and Aberdeen.

The news, however, gives Paul Lambert the chance to reclaim his place in the starting line-up.

The skipper has found himself on the sidelines recently and was again in the dug-out last night, with Chris Sutton being played in midfield and Hartson partnering Henrik Larsson in attack.

But with Lennon now in the treatment room, Lambert will get his chance again and he is also expected to play the first leg against Stuttgart, with Sutton moving up front to replace Hartson.

The Welshman was spat at by Peter Luccin after scoring his goal, the incident went unnoticed by Danish referee Claus Bo Larsen.

But European football’s governing body look set to view video evidence of the incident, which Hartson and O’Neill also failed to see.

A UEFA spokesperson added: “We can view video evidence of the incident and we will be looking at video at the beginning of next week before deciding whether disciplinary action will be taken.”

But Celtic were refusing to make an issue of it and instead basked in their glory before Sunday’s SPL match at Kilmarnock.

They could also receive a further boost with their cup exploits by being seeded in Europe next season.

“Nothing can happen during the current season with a team’s seeding,” the UEFA spokesperson added.

“But this can have an affect for next season and we will be looking at Celtic results in Europe over the past few years.

“There is a good chance that the coefficient and the club’s seeding could improve, but that will depend on how the other teams get on this season in the remaining matches.”