Neil Lennon happy with players despite run of home draws

THREE home draws in their last three games have represented less than title-winning form from Celtic, but Neil Lennon sees no reason for major dissatisfaction with the way his team have been playing. As he prepares for another two SPL matches at Parkhead - on Boxing Day against St Johnstone then on Wednesday against Motherwell - the Celtic manager is convinced his players do not deserve some of the criticism being directed at them.

Neil Lennon has told his struggling team they must be more clinical in front of goal. Picture: SNS

"I wasn't disappointed at all with the performance against Kilmarnock," Lennon said of the 1-1 draw on Tuesday night against one of the division's form teams. "It's the best we have played in quite a few games. We just needed someone to put the ball in the net. We created umpteen clear-cut chances and Killie could not get out of their own half, particularly in the first half.

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"I felt our attacking play was good, so I am not going to criticise. It was just that the result did not merit the performance.

"The team is now bedded in and they know what the expectations are. I don't think I'm expecting too much of them to win games at home and if they keep playing like that, there won't be a problem.

"We had a bit of verve, good width and got around the back of Killie so many times. We just lacked a clinical finish. Had we got one, we would have had a barrowload. Defensively we were fine. Every goal you concede you think you could have done better."

With a visit to Ibrox coming up after those next two home games, Lennon is conscious that more dropped points would put unwanted pressure on his team, who are two points behind Ranges and have played one match more. "We don't want to drop any more points before we go into the Old Firm game. We have two home games and Rangers have two away games. We'll see what the outcome of that is, but we have to look after our own shop and try and take maximum points from the game. If we play as well as we did against Kilmarnock then we won't be far away from doing that."

Although the result against Mixu Paatelainen's team was no better than in the preceding matches against Dundee United and Inverness Caley Thistle, Lennon still felt the game marked an improvement. Even so, he accepted that, while areas of play were going well, the inability to convert chances remained a real concern.

"We played particularly well in the first-half against Dundee United, who are a decent side. Again, we missed gilt-edged chances.

"We were flat against Inverness, but the performance against Kilmarnock was night and day from that, in terms of the quality of attacking play. Defensively, we were also pretty good. Fraser Forster maybe had one save to make and their goalkeeper was very busy.

"We put umpteen crosses in. The hardest thing in football is to put the ball in the back of the net."More calmness with the final ball or the finish (is needed]. But we are analysing one game here. It has not been the case all season.

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"I was pretty nervous before the Kilmarnock game, but I settled once it started because we played the way I wanted. We played with width and we were getting plenty of action in the goalmouth.

"If we'd have got one, then I think we'd have won the game comfortably. I'm not sure Kilmarnock will have had to defend so much against any other team this season.

"We started very well considering we had been out for three weeks. You worry it might take time to get a second wind, but they were straight out the blocks.

"Once (Kilmarnock] scored, we had to chase the game and leave ourselves a bit open. I don't mind that as long as we are still doing the right things."

One problem for Lennon in the weeks to come is that the man responsible for many of those right things, Ki Sung-Yueng, will be absent on international duty from Sunday until towards the end of January. Ki and his compatriot Cha Du-Ri fly out after the St Johnstone game to report to South Korea's Asian Cup training camp, and Lennon can only hope that the return from long-term injury of Scott Brown and Beram Kayal will compensate for his absence.

"We'll miss his composure, vision and the way he can dictate the game by switching play very quickly," the manager said. "Brown and Kayal give us different options and are different kinds of players.

"They are more powerful and probably better at getting the ball back. Brown will give us the drive that we have probably missed a wee bit. Ki probably just needed a wee bit of time to settle in and adapt to the Scottish game. But he has done that now and I thought he was superb against Kilmarnock, the best player on the pitch. Unfortunately, we will miss him for a few weeks, but his emergence has been a huge bonus this season."

Midfielder Murray Davidson should be available for St Johnstone after coming through a bounce game at Ravenscraig earlier in the week. Graham Gartland and Graeme Smith continued their recoveries from injury by also taking part in the game, and manager Derek McInnes hopes to have them back in his squad early in the New Year.