Relief for Alan Thompson at seeing out ‘must-win’ game, while Boudewijn Zenden on radar

CELTIC first-team coach Alan Thompson admitted relief was the over-riding emotion of the club’s management staff in the wake of yesterday’s 2-1 win over Motherwell at Fir Park.

Gary Hooper’s late goal earned the victory for Neil Lennon’s side who remain 12 points behind leaders Rangers at the top of the SPL table with one game in hand on their great rivals.

Although Lennon had sought to play down the potential personal significance of losing any further ground in the title race against a Motherwell side who were three points above them before kick-off, Thompson was happy to recognise how important the win had been.

“We are relieved, absolutely,” said Thompson. “It was a must-win game for us, no doubt about it. If we didn’t win today, then it would have been virtually impossible for us to win the championship. As it is, we are still hanging in there.

“This might take a little bit of the heat off the manager, although knowing Scottish football as I do, there will still be some heat there.”

Thompson attended the post-match interview instead of Lennon who, along with his assistant Johan Mjallby, was reported to be suffering from a sore throat. But Lennon did speak to live broadcaster ESPN after the match, praising the response of his players to the speculation which has surrounded the club over the past week.

“To come here and win, when all the pressure was on and everyone was expecting Motherwell to win the game, was great,” said Lennon. “I think my players have good belief and character. I’ve never questioned that, it’s just a bit more consistency we’re looking for.

“Sometimes the players lose concentration in games and we can’t afford that any more between now and the end of the season if we’re going to make in-roads on the championship front.”

Thompson, meanwhile, confirmed Celtic’s interest in signing former Dutch international midfielder Boudewijn Zenden. The 35-year-old, who can also play at left-back, is looking for a new club after leaving Sunderland in the summer.

“Bolo came in a couple of days ago and he trained yesterday,” said Thompson. “He’s a free agent with an unbelievable CV. He wants to come, so we’ll have a look and see what we can do.”

Zenden is a former Chelsea and Barcelona midfielder who also had spells at PSV Eindhoven, Middlesbrough, Liverpool and Marseille, before ending up at the Stadium of Light. He scored for the Black Cats on the last day of last season in a 3-0 win at West Ham.

Motherwell manager Stuart McCall, while dismayed by the manner of his team’s defeat after they had taken an early lead through Michael Higdon, was full of praise for his players.

“I’m gutted at the result,” said McCall. “I said last week, when we won at Inverness, that it was the first time we’d got a result we didn’t deserve. Well, today we didn’t get what we deserved again. I felt we merited a point. I’d have been proud to play in that Motherwell team today. Now all the talk of splitting the Old Firm will disappear and we can concentrate on our aims for the season which will remain between me and the staff.”