Neil Lennon "has done great things at the club - and will again" says Celtic mainstay

It is always easy to tell when a player is simply turning on the PR flannel in support of an under-pressure manager.

Christopher Jullien insists the Celtic squad retain "100% belief" in Neil Lennon (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)

Instinctively, then, there was no doubting the sincerity of Celtic defender Christopher Jullien’s defence of Neil Lennon in the aftermath of the 4-1 going-over away to Sparta Prague - yet another outcome surely denting the protective shield around the Irishman.

Jullien, who had an up-and-down evening in common with his brittle team-mates on his return to the fray after two months missing with a back injury, could hardly be more supportive of a manager haemorraging backers beyond the Celtic board.

“I have no worries about the manager,” said the French centre-back of the open season on Lennon’s future ahead of Sunday’s League Cup tie with Ross County. The clamour for his removal ramping up in intensity following only two wins in a nine-game stretch in which Celtic’s defensive dissaray has made the Europa League a write off and left them 11 points adrift of Rangers in their all-consuming 10-chasing title campaign. “It was a bad game but we still have belief in each other and in the coaching staff. I believe in him – 100 percent.

“He’s a great coach. He has been unbelievable since I have arrived. He has done great work before – and will do again. I know there has not been the results on the field but we need to look out for each other. The manager is doing a great job, we just have to erase these mistakes and work for each other. I believe if we do that we can get back to where we were. The manager has 100% support from the players.

“We have the same players as last year, and we definitely have the same staff, they are still doing a great job. If you look at the situation, mentally we might have had a slump or something like that. We just have to trust and believe in each other to get back to what we were doing last year. We were great. We wanted to win every game, we still want it, but there is just something missing.”