Celtic: Hotel fire alarm before Aberdeen game

A FIRE alarm set off suspiciously in the Celtic hotel in the early hours of yesterday morning failed to halt Neil Lennon’s team, though it did provoke the Celtic manager into a withering response to those who pulled the stunt.

Asked if the fire alarm interfered with his team's preparation, Lennon said no. Picture: SNS

“It went off between 1.30 and 1.45 in the morning and it’s becoming a bit of a regular occurrence when we come here,” he said.

“It was freezing. There were a couple of elderly people out in the cold and some in wheelchairs and they were a little distraught.”

Asked if it interfered with his team’s preparation, Lennon said no. “It took some of the boys a wee bit of time to get over [to sleep], but it fires you up.”

Lennon said he is still in pursuit of a striker, with Schalke player Teemu Pukki top of his list. “We went in with another offer but they are not prepared to sell.”

Celtic flew out to Kazakhstan last night. The Celtic manager said the likes of Amido Balde, Anthony Stokes and Tom Rogic, all absent yesterday, would be available for Tuesday. “We’ll have more impetus attacking-wise.”

Derek McInnes had no issue with the penalty and the red card awarded against Jamie Langfield in what was the pivotal moment. “It was the right decision. There was no doubt it was a penalty and the referee probably made the right call about the red card as well. Up to that, there was nothing in it. We’re frustrated that we didn’t manage to go toe-to-toe with them for 90 minutes but I’d ask the fans to stick with us. The boys are desperate to do well.”