Neil Lennon gave 'rampant' Celtic a 'whipping' as Stephen Welsh's foot is put in a pot

Neil Lennon says his team were returned to the force of old in their second half blitz of St Mirren.

Celtic manager Neil Lennon during his side's 4-0 win against St Mirren in Paisley. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

Three goals in six second-half minutes that began with Odsonne Edouard netting an 78th minute penalty for his ninth goal in ten games and brought crisp efforts from Ryan Christie and David Turnbull allowed the Parkhead men to clock up a second 4-0 victory in nine days. By the end of they encounter, their third straight league win, Lennon saw something that has been missing for most of this desperate season.

“I thought we were outstanding. It looked like the Celtic team of this time last year – rampant, full of quality, full of running and full of goals,” he said of the second-half showing that followed a first period of “unforced errors” but also a quality opener from Tom Rogic. “Coming here is always difficult but we could have won by five or six tonight comfortably. [Scott] Brown was excellent in the second-half, [Ryan] Christie looked more like himself when he came on, Rogic was imperious and Odsonne and [Albian] Ajeti dovetailed well up front. I gave them a bit of a whipping at half-time and got the exact response I was looking for.”

The blot on the evening was Stephen Welsh leaving the field on a stretcher just after the hour following a heavy challenge by Jon Obika. Lennon is hopeful the 21-year-old centre-back is not lost to the side, having cemented his place in it.

“He got a real heavy knock, a trauma. His foot is in a pot at the minute so it is difficult to assess the damage until the physios get a real good look at it. We are hoping it is just a bang on the ankle. But we will have to see if there is any damage there. He seemed okay. With the foot in the pot it kind of keeps it stable and he didn’t look to be in any distress. He has done very well. We have been very pleased with him and he is a good kid. Hopefully he won’t miss any games. If he does he will be back in the squad as soon as possible because he has earned it.”

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