Lennon admits to concern over title bid and accuses red-carded Commons of letting side down

Lennon argued that his team had created enough chances to beat Hearts, but said they lacked the self-belief to fight back from a goal down, and also criticised Kris Commons, who was sent off soon after Rudi Skacel had opened the scoring for the home team.

Ryan Stevenson scored Hearts’ second in a result which keeps Celtic ten points behind Rangers. They have a game in hand, but Lennon knows they need to become more competitive mentally if they are to start to claw back the deficit on the champions. “My biggest bugbear is the good chances we missed,” he said. “We were flagrant in front of goal, wasteful, and away from home the longer the game’s 0-0 you give the opposition encouragement. I thought if we had got a goal it would open Hearts up and we’d maybe win the game more comfortably.

“We conceded a poor goal when we were in the ascendancy. Particularly after half-time we had decent control of the game, but the first goal changed the nature of the game, and then we lost our discipline – or one player lost his discipline, and let us down badly. I didn’t really get a good look at it, but from what I gather it’s a lunge and it’s high. He’s come in and held his hand up, but it’s too late.

“He’s let himself down and he’s let us down. He’ll be dealt with accordingly in-house.” A soft header by Mo Bangura was the biggest missed opportunity by Celtic in the first half, but, after the break, their most glaring failing was in defence. The error which led to the first goal was compounded by Commons’ dismissal, and Lennon highlighted the lack of conviction shown by his players as they went in search of the equaliser.

“A few of them, the heads dropped after the sending-off, and there was a lack of belief that we could get back into the game. I said to them afterwards: ‘Look, a draw wouldn’t have been the worst result in the world, you just have to keep going and keep playing.’

“We got the ball into really good areas at times, and we weren’t clinical enough. That’s the biggest disappointment for me today.

“We did say: ‘Some people are asking questions about you. Go out and show them you can handle the pressure.’

“And I felt first half we missed really good chances – we should really have been coming in at the break a goal or two up. We said: ‘Try and kill the game off first ten or 15 minutes [of the second half].’

“Again we were in control, but didn’t test the goalkeeper enough for my liking. We didn’t deal with a looping cross into the box well enough, then we were chasing the game after that.

“I didn’t see any tiredness today,” Lennon continued on being asked if he thought the Thursday night Europa League game had been a factor in his team’s play. “Particularly for the first hour I thought we played quite well.

“Kris hadn’t played for a while, so we knew he might be a little bit rusty, but he looked dangerous.

“Mo has really missed a dolly from two or three yards out with the header, and that would have put us in the driving seat.

“There are two or three off form. There’s not a lack of desire, just a lack of belief among a few of them that they can’t pull it round.”

While the gap between the two Glasgow clubs is alarmingly wide from a Celtic perspective, they must know that Rangers will not maintain their present form throughout the season. Nonetheless, being aware that his job may well depend on wresting the title back from Ibrox, Lennon is aware that the onus is on him to make a quick improvement in his team’s performances.

“There’s six or seven months of the season to go. We have to start winning games consistently, and find that consistency very quickly.

“There’s a few players have to look at themselves and ask if they’re doing enough at the minute. For me they’re not.

“We’ve lost three games already – we only lost four last season. It’s a difficult position that I’m in, but I understand the position as well.”