Celtic boss Neil Lennon wary of ‘talented’ Ian McCall’s Partick Thistle

Neil Lennon has yet to win the League Cup as Celtic boss. Picture: Craig Williamson/SNS

But Ian McCall’s return as manager of the struggling Firhill club has added an extra note of caution to Lennon’s preparations in the only domestic tournament he has yet to win as Celtic boss.

He has the utmost respect for McCall – not just because he is a neighbour in the west end of Glasgow whose youth coaching sessions Lennon’s son Gallagher once attended.

Lennon believes McCall is a highly gifted manager who is now proving that once more after the setbacks of being sacked by Dundee United and Queen of the South earlier in his career.

“I think Ian and Alan Archibald becoming the new management team is a potent combination for Partick,” said Lennon. “I like Ian a lot. I admire him, he is having a very good managerial career.

“He’s had a renaissance after so many people were writing him off. He’s bounced back brilliantly and has had unbelievable success at Ayr.

“You are seeing his talent again. It must have been a big decision for him, given the current situation of Ayr and Thistle, but he obviously sees huge potential in what Thistle have to offer.

“He knows the environment and his recruitment is good. He’s smart. He can walk to work now!

“I bump into him in the west end a lot. He enjoys living there. He had a wee soccer school going for a while which my son attended. It was about 18 months ago and Gallagher loved it.”

Thistle’s current position at the foot of the Championship will be ignored by Lennon who, in the final season of his first spell as Celtic manager, suffered a home defeat by struggling second tier opponents in the shape of Morton in the League Cup six years ago.

“Personally, it would be nice to win it as manager,” he added. “Listen, you want to win everything, the team have won it the last three years and we want to keep the run going as far as we can.

“The run in the domestic cups for the club over the last three seasons has been fantastic, so consistent. There will be decisions and luck that can go against you. We will try to take that element out of the game, we’ll be professional, and while I know it won’t be a full house, we are coming up against an opposition that might get a spark from the new manager and come out and play with a bit of freedom with nothing to lose.

“So, we have to be on our guard and we will have to play well. There is always pressure in this job to win any cup competition but I don’t feel the same weight of pressure I might have done three or four months ago.

“When I came back to the club in February, every game was a case of ‘he’s got to win this one to get the job’. But that isn’t there now, which is lovely. I can breathe a little bit better.

“Celtic will lose a cup tie again some time, of course that will happen. But part of me is saying ‘why should this run of trophy wins end?’. I’ll be saying that to the players as well.”

Lennon will make changes to his side tonight with Jonny Hayes, Lewis Morgan, Tom Rogic and Vakoun Bayo, all on the periphery of his squad for much of the season, in line for starting appearances.

The Celtic manager has confirmed that Craig Gordon, deposed as first-choice  goalkeeper by on-loan  Fraser Forster, will definitely face Thistle.

“It’s important to give Craig some game time and keep him ticking over,” said  Lennon. “He’s not done a lot wrong really.

“He won’t just be our cup keeper, I’m not going to do that. I’ll just decide game by game. It’s important we keep Craig motivated and give him enough game time to keep  him on his toes. He’s a top  goalkeeper.

“We will make some  changes through necessity – Moritz Bauer is out with a swollen ankle and Ryan Christie ricked his neck on Sunday so we may look at resting him.

“Some players never want to be rested but you sometimes worry when the volume of games has been as heavy as it has been recently.

“You could see there was a bit of fatigue kicking in at the end of the game on Sunday.

“But the players coming in are champing at the bit  to play and I’m looking  forward to seeing some of them play.”