No strikers, but Celtic manager Neil Lennon says ‘I’ll live and die by my decisions’

No recognised frontman selected by Parkhead boss for second match running

Left to right, Celtic scorers Albian Ajeti, James Forrest and Christopher Jullien celebrate. Picture: SNS

Neil Lennon insists he will “live and die” by the decisions he makes as Celtic manager after opting not to pick a recognised striker in his starting line-up for the second consecutive match.

With Odsonne Edouard and Leigh Griffiths still injured, 
Lennon ignored criticism of his team selection for last Wednesday’s Champions League defeat against Ferencvaros by naming an unchanged side for the Premiership fixture against Motherwell at Celtic Park yesterday
with strikers Albian Ajeti 
and Patryk Klimala again on the bench.

Ajeti appeared in the second half to score the second goal in a 3-0 win for the Scottish champions in which James Forrest and Christopher Jullien were also on target.

“I make decisions and you live and die off them for what you think is for the benefit of the club,” said Lennon.

“It’s not some sort of ego trip. I have always put the players first and the club first.

“You’ve just got to go with your gut instinct to go with the same team. I thought that, in isolation, we dominated Ferencvaros and should have won – we didn’t.

“Then it’s all down to the fact we didn’t play a centre-forward, but none of them is fit enough to start and you can see that today.

“I expected criticism after the Ferencvaros game and the volume of criticism is sometimes out of sync and balance. But you learn to live with that and we had a good response today from the players. No one is more sore about going out of the Champions League than myself. It’s on my CV now, that result, but I have to park that and move forward.”

Lennon revealed that Edouard, inset, has been withdrawn from the French under-21 squad, while he is concerned by Ajeti’s inclusion in the Swiss squad for their Nations League matches against Ukraine and Germany.

“We’ve an issue because Albian has been called up and we have let the Swiss know he is not fully match fit,” said Lennon.

“So whether he goes and comes back or does some conditioning work and maybe plays ten or 15 minutes I don’t know.

“I’ve not said I don’t want him to play, but he is not match fit. They will take a view on that when they see him and Albian is of the same opinion.”

Lennon, who is hopeful he will add “one or two” new signings during the international break, was satisfied with his team’s display against Motherwell after a sluggish start.

“I wasn’t overly delighted with the first half,” he added. “I thought we were a little bit passive and a little bit lukewarm.

“The second half we were a lot better and as the game wore on we got stronger and stronger.

“I’m delighted with the three points and the majority of the performance. It’s a good reaction and players are starting to look better - Chris Julien, James Forrest and Kris Ajer. They are starting to get into their match rhythm now.”

Lennon confirmed that Celtic are close to making a decision on the future of Boli Bolingoli after the Belgian full-back received a three-match ban from the Scottish FA for the breach of Covid-19 protocol which forced two of his club’s league matches to be postponed last month.

“There will be a disciplinary sanction from the club as well,” said Lennon. “We will take stock of things over the next week or so and take a decision on what we do.

“I wouldn’t be so definite (as to say his career at Celtic is over), but it might be something we think about, that’s for sure. We are going to think about it very, very intensely and make a decision in the next week or so.”

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