We will get better, there will be a bit more zip - Neil Lennon

Published on 05/08/2012 00:52

CELTIC captain Scott Brown may need an injection to be fit for his club’s crucial Champions League qualifier in Helsinki on Wednesday and could require an operation further down the line. The midfielder missed Celtic’s opening day win at home to Aberdeen with a hip problem that his manager Neil Lennon believes can be managed in the short-term as he looks to have a full squad available for the deciding leg of the tie that has eight more European games resting on it.

“Scott had a scan on his hip and has a wee bit of degeneration on the disc,” Lennon said. “We’ll see how he is on Monday. It might need an injection. We hope that can calm it down. The little bit of degeneration is not a massive concern at the minute.”

Georgios Samaras was taken off in the second half after complaining of dizziness following a kick to the face that left him with cuts to his mouth and face. “We’ll need to wait and see how he is,” the Celtic manager said.

Lennon admitted there was a “flatness” look to his team that he put down to a “hangover” from Wednesday’s 2-1 first leg win over the Finns. “We will get better. I don’t think we will play as flat as that for the majority of the games. There will be a bit more zip about us as we go along.”

A first day point in Glasgow was denied to Aberdeen by a mis-hit Kris Commons shot in 79 minutes that Jamie Langfield inexplicably allowed to elude him at the near post.

Pittodrie manager Craig Brown refused to finger-point. “We are usually good at responding to free-kicks and corners but this time we didn’t and that is the most disappointing thing,” Brown said. “I don’t criticise individuals, I criticise the team. If I was to criticise every player for making a mistake I wouldn’t have a team for the next week.”