Neil Lennon still trying to land Craig Bellamy despite player's protestations

The club's manager intends to use his team's participation in the Dublin Super Cup this weekend alongside the Welsh striker's club Manchester City to explore whether a deal could be struck that would allow long-time target Bellamy to make a temporary return to the club he played for on loan six years ago.

The 32-year-old has been ostracised by the Eastlands manager Roberto Mancini. He spent last season on loan to his boyhood team Cardiff City with the Welsh side paying half his 80,000-a-week wage. Were City prepared to cover the final year of his deal in similar fashion it could open up the possibility of a Celtic move.

That prospect seemed all but ruled out when Bellamy was quoted the other week as saying when he wasn't keen on another loan deal as his contract ran down and that his preferred destination would be Cardiff if he could negotiate a full pay-off from the FA Cup holders and wage from his home city club commensurate with his present earnings.

But such unpromising noises from the player did not seemed to deter Lennon when asked about the latest on a transfer tale that refuses to go away.

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"There's still interest in Craig Bellamy but at the minute it's dictated by finances. While I'm here I hope to catch up with Manchester City to see what the situation is and then take it from there. But we've not given up yet," said Lennon, speaking ahead of his side's meeting with Internazionale in Dublin's Aviva Stadium this afternoon. The Celtic manager intimated there were would be no further interest in strikers Katlego Mphela and Milos Lacny, after the trial outings this week.

Lennon also appeared to distance himself from a possible contract offer for keeper Stipe Pletikosa, who failed to convince in the 2-0 midweek defeat by Wolverhampton Wanderers.

"We haven't had the chance to speak to his representative, but we will do either today or tomorrow," said Lennon, determined to have an new keeper added to the squad before next Saturday's Scottish Premier League trip to Aberdeen.

This afternoon's meeting with Inter, which will be followed tomorrow by a game against a League of Ireland select, was referred to by the Celtic manager as a "nostalgic occasion" for the club's older supporters, in that it recalls the "greatest day in the club's history in 1967".

He also views it as a potentially telling one for him in offering a "good gauge of where we are against a high calibre of opposition" only 12 days before the club's a Europa League play-off tie.

"It is not just domestic football that is important," he said in conceding that continental competition could "possibly" distract from the priority of winning a first championship in four seasons."The success we have had in the last decade showed how much European football means to the club financially and to the supporters emotionally.

"It is a big thing. The club and the fans expect it and we would like to have a concerted run in it.

"As a player, I was lucky enough to play in decent campaigns in the Champions League and made the UEFA Cup final in 2003.

"There is no better club to be at when that kind of momentum is really going. We want to bring those days back to the club as quickly as possible."