Inverness CT 0 - 1 Celtic: Celtic awake from their slumber to leave Inverness bedraggled

NEIL Lennon said he was unhappy with Shaun Maloney. But that was only for the accidental collision with team-mate Paddy McCourt following a moment of the Irishman's trademark trickery and finesse which gave Celtic their winner at Inverness.

• Reassured by team-mates Sean Maloney and Georgios Samaris, Celtic scorer Paddy McCourt nurses an injury after celebrating their winner Pictures: Alan Harvey/SNS

Maloney's manager was far from unhappy with his overall performance, though. While new defenders are lining up at Celtic Park for medicals and to agree personal terms, the chase is still on for the elusive Craig Bellamy. In his absence, someone is going to have to start converting a great proportion of the chances this Celtic team proved themselves capable of creating.

After a poor start when they were kept on the back foot by a hungry, mobile and adventurous Inverness Caledonian Thistle side determined to herald their arrival back on the SPL stage by claiming a notable scalp, Celtic soon adapted to the pace of the game and matched the hosts' desire before overwhelming them completely. It was a display of patience and mental fortitude because, with one eye already on this Thursday's Europa Cup tie with Utrecht - the Dutch side's manager Jan Wouters was at Caledonian Stadium - there was the potential for Celtic to trip up before their season was even out the blocks.

It took them a while to get going but when they did ignite it was thanks to Maloney, according to Lennon. "We were a wee bit rusty, understandably, and the opening games don't always go the way you plan it. You can feel a bit leggy and it's an early start and even taking that into consideration, I initially wanted more from the front six. The back four got into the game quite early but we needed more in the final third. Then we hit the post when Shaun went through one on one and I think that was the spark, it gave us all a lift and in the second half we were terrific."

That Maloney opportunity, which was more than 20 minutes into the game, was the first real response Celtic had to an early Inverness surge, which saw Jonny Hayes, in particular, pulling the strings. But once they edged their way back into the match, Lennon's side went on to dominate the second half.The only real criticism of their display after the break was the lack of any clinical finish other than the 55th-minute beauty from McCourt, who danced his way to an opening, before lashing a powerful low shot beyond Ryan Esson from the edge of the box.

It will have given Wouters food for thought and perhaps enforced the view in Lennon's mind that a real finisher is still required before the transfer window closes, even if Maloney already feels like a new signing after such a prolonged issue with injuries. "I have known Shaun for years and I know what he can do," said Lennon. "He has had a horrendous time with injuries and we have wrapped him in cotton wool for a while but we know that if we keep him fit we have a very, very good player. In the hole or left and right and he can drift, he is intelligent enough to do that and he was a real handful for them in the second half. He gets disappointed with himself at times to his detriment but I think he is a great player and having him back is like having a very good new player."

Having taken control of the game in the second half - Inverness's inability to scale the same heights they had in the first period contributed to the ease in which Celtic were able to see out the game - the visitors know it should have been a more emphatic scoreline. The chances came thick and fast and another effort rattled off the upright as Celtic allowed around a dozen openings to come and go without punishing the Highland side.

Some of that will be down to rustiness and perhaps even pressure to prove themselves when Lennon has so many others on the bench and in the stand demanding their starts. But whatever the reason, solutions or another striker will need to be found if they are to better superior opposition, particularly in Europe when chances don't come along as often. But, for Lennon and the vocal travelling support, the early signs were certainly encouraging.