Lennon hails 'fantastic' Brown after a winning return

Neil LENNON had every reason to feel vindicated in his backing of Scott Brown after the Celtic skipper returned from injury to maintain the Hoops' 100 per cent record with their 2-1 win over Hibs.

There was some debate over whether the much-maligned midfielder deserved to come back into a team that had demolished Inverness 6-0 in midweek. However, the former Hibs player repaid his manager's enormous faith in him after only five minutes by grabbing the opener with a wonderful volley.

Glenn Loovens added a second after the break with a header but former Celtic striker Derek Riordan responded quickly with a brilliant chip to keep the home fans nervous until the final whistle. "Are you surprised?" smiled Lennon when asked about Brown's performance.

"He's got his detractors but we all know what he can do.

"It was a wonderful performance, he led the team brilliantly with good energy and quality and it was a wonderful goal he scored as well.

"If we hadn't had him we might have struggled. I thought he was fantastic."