Neil Lennon singles out 'gritty little hardy man' for special Celtic praise after Kilmarnock win

Neil Lennon reserved special praise for his newest recruit Jonjoe Kenny as he savoured Celtic’s biggest win since last September.

Celtic manager Neil Lennon applauds his side efforts during their 4-0 victory at Kilmarnock. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

The right-back was solid and lively on his debut, only a day on from his arrival in a six-month loan deal from Everton, in helping his new team to a 4-0 victory at Kilmarnock. And as a short-term replacement for Jeremie Frimpong following his £11.5million move to Bayer Leverkusen, the 23-year-old supplied Lennon with everything he was looking for. Not least in allowing Kristoffer Ajer to vacate that berth and move back to central defence.

"Jonjoe played very well on his debut,” Lennon said. “We had to be patient to get a right-back in after Frimpong left and that puts Ajer back in there. Jonjoe knows the position, is a good defender and I thought he was very good going forward. He was very calm and looked like he’d been playing with us all season, even though he’d only trained with us for a day. I was delighted with his performance. I quite like his attitude and his enthusiasm for the game. He’s a gritty little hardy man and I thought he defended his position very well.”

Lennon also had plaudits for Stephen Welsh, preferred as Ajer’s partner to Shane Duffy, and two-goal Odsonne Edouard. On the Celtic youngster he said: “I’m delighted with him because he’s been steady. He got thrown in at the deep end this season with Rangers and AC Milan. I wouldn’t say he’s struggled but it’s been difficult for him. He’s had a couple of games since then and he’s been very good. I was delighted with his performance and he should be.”

All in, Lennon maintained his five-changes and his damning calling out of the players’ professionalism in the aftermath of Saturday’s home loss to St Mirren had produced the desired effect. “I got the reaction I wanted. It was the polar opposite of what we produced on Saturday,” he said. “People were criticising me for jagging the team but they needed the jag to be honest and we got a great performance and a great result and the body language, their attacking play. The concentration was so much better. That is more like us so we have to build on that from here on in."

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