'Our play was outstanding at times on a very difficult surface' - Neil Lennon praises Celtic for quality after win over Hearts

Celtic manager Neil Lennon praised his players for cranking up the pressure on title rivals Rangers with a 2-0 victory over Hearts at Tynecastle.

Delighted: Celtic boss Neil Lennon

Lennon felt his side could have ‘run riot’ against the struggling Gorgie outfit but was more than satisfied with a result which puts the champions five points clear of Rangers at the top of the Premiership table.

The Ibrox side have a game in hand as they prepare to face Hibs at Easter Road on Friday night and Lennon is thrilled with the relentless consistency of his own team who secured a ninth straight league win through goals from Ryan Christie and Olivier Ntcham.

“I’m delighted,” said Lennon. “I can’t ask any more apart from putting even more of an emphatic scoreline on it.

“We had two great chances before half-time and we had great chances in the second half to go 3-0 or 4-0 up. And if we had done that, we could have maybe run riot.

“But the intensity and quality of our play at times was outstanding on a very difficult surface.

“We looked good, it’s another clean sheet against a Hearts team who were very much up for the game and played with a lot of pride. But we saw that off and it was a really good job. We’re in a really good place at the minute.

“It gives us a couple of days rest and we look forward to a difficult game at home to Aberdeen on Saturday.

“It puts pressure on the rest of the teams around us to win their games. That’s what we set out to do tonight and we’ve done that with a bit of style as well.

“I was so pleased with a lot of the individual performances tonight but, more importantly, the manner we approached the game because we knew Hearts would be up and at it, and they were.”