No panic from Lennon

Celtic midfielder Neil Lennon insists there is no reason to push the panic button despite disappointment in Europe and the title race.

The Parkhead side’s Champions League campaign got off to a bad start when they slumped to a 3-1 home defeat to Barcelona last week – hardly the ideal preparation for next week’s clash against AC Milan at the San Siro.

There was further disappointment in store for the Hoops faithful when Celtic were twice forced to battle back from behind to take a point from Hibernian at the weekend.

However, Martin O’Neill fielded a young, mostly second string side against Falkirk in the CIS Insurance Cup last night and they left the manager in no doubt that they are up to the task this season when they romped to an 8-1 CIS win.

Lennon is well aware that improvement is needed from the top players but he reckons it is only a matter of time before the supporters see Celtic hitting top form again.

He told the Celtic View: “What you have to look at – and we made this point in the dressing room on Monday – is that we have exactly the same points as we had at this time last year.

“And that’s without really hitting top form yet.

“We know the quality will come once we’ve blended in the new players – not that we’re using that as an excuse. We know that we could have played a lot better than we did against Hibs and maybe that’s a wee wake-up call for us all.

“There’s plenty of room for improvement but the main thing is that we’re all aware of that and we know what needs to be done.

“Standards are high here and so they should be. When we fall below those standards, it hurts, and I think it’s a good sign that everyone came in for training on Monday very disappointed.

“But the only place you can rectify that is on the pitch and that’s what we intend doing.

“We have to improve.”