Lennon vows to vouch for Stokes

Stokes is returning to Lennon’s good books after a hot run of six goals in his past five appearances, including a double in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

The Irish striker has done as much as anyone to resuscitate Celtic’s title ambitions after a poor start to the season saw Lennon suddenly begin to look like a manager under pressure. A win at home against Dunfermline this evening will see Celtic cut Rangers’ lead at the top of the Scottish Premier League to seven points.

Lennon has challenged Stokes to continue his spell of form and persuade him to alert Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni to the striker’s resurgence. Lennon and Stokes himself will probably need to convince Trapattoni he has done more than simply improve on the pitch. The player angered Trapattoni by dropping out of end-of-season games in the summer, claiming to be “too tired”.

He was far from Irish thoughts as the side qualified for Euro 2012 last week by overcoming Estonia in the play-offs. Indeed, Stokes did not feature in a single minute of the campaign and is reckoned to have a lot to do to earn a place back in Trapattoni’s affections. But Lennon has promised to vouch for the Dubliner if he continues to impress, on and off the park. He described the player as looking like “he is getting the message on board” when it comes to fitting in to Celtic’s style of play and also observing the club’s code of conduct.

Stokes’ rehabilitation at Celtic is an indication of how quickly fortunes can change. Lennon has not always given the impression he is entirely convinced by the striker, who often found himself left out of significant fixtures. The manager yesterday said Stokes had “tidied up” on “disciplinary things” recently. He has now positioned himself as Celtic’s principal striker.

“He has become more responsible,” added Lennon. “I would have no hesitation speaking to him [Trapattoni]. I want him first of all to get to the level in his club career when he is ready to go and play international football. The way he is playing at the minute, he is in that place. But he has to sustain it now over a period of time and then I can pick up the phone [to Trapattoni] and say ‘I think he is well worth a look’.”

Lennon admitted that Stokes has “a bit of catch-up to do” having fallen far behind the likes of Kevin Doyle, Simon Cox, Shane Long and Robbie Keane in the queue ahead of next summer’s finals in Poland and Ukraine.

“I am not saying it is impossible or that he hasn’t got a chance,” he said. “He has. But it is up to him and maybe myself to convince [Trapattoni].

“There might be friendlies along the way. If he has the opportunity to play in them that is where he has to make his mark. You have to remember he is still only 22-23. For that age he has played a lot of football already and he has had a lot of stuff written about him.”

Celtic are tonight aiming to win four games in a row for the first time this season. Consistency is key if Celtic want to edge within four points of leaders Rangers by the end of Saturday, with the Ibrox side not due to play again until Sunday. That would require victory tonight and on Saturday, when St Mirren visit.

“I want to put some ‘Ws’ in the column,” said Lennon, whose injury worries have not eased yet with Victor Wanyama likely to again be employed at centre-half, although Glenn Loovens and Charlie Mulgrew could come into contention at the weekend. Paddy McCourt, meanwhile, remains a restless presence on the bench, although cameos against Motherwell and Inverness teased both him and the fans.

“I’ll do my best for the team and, in January or the summer, if I feel I’ve had enough, I’ll go and speak to him [Lennon],” the Northern Irishman said yesterday, after being asked whether he was preparing to register his disapproval at such snatched periods of involvement.