Neil Lennon dismisses concerns over Celtic striker Odsonne Edouard's body language

Too easy to forget the relative youth of club’s attacking fulcrum

Neil Lennon sees no point to any questioning of Odsonne Edouard's commitment to Celtic (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

Celtic manager Neil Lennon has slapped down suggestions that Odsonne Edouard’s body language in recent games points to the striker not being fully engaged.

The French forward has been subject to incessant transfer speculation over the summer and, after watching him at Dingwall last week, former Aberdeen forward Duncan Shearer mused that the languid nature of Edouard’s display could point to his head having been turned. Lennon is dismissive of such conjecture.

“He’s fine,” Lennon said. “Odsonne is a 22-year-old player and sometimes we expect a lot of him because he’s a mercurial talent. I don’t think he’s playing badly, probably not at the level he was when we came to the lockdown, but I’m pretty confident that will come.”

Meanwhile, the Celtic manager has no doubt that his squad will be fully motivated by the opportunity to go top of the Premiership table in their encounter at home to Livingston this afternoon.

“It’s been a good week so far with two really good results away from home,” he said, revealing that Christopher Jullien is a doubt with back strain sustained in training on Thursday. “We know what the incentive is, and also we’re trying to find the level of performance that pleases us, so we’re very much looking forward to the game.”

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