Winner won't clinch starting spot, says striker

Anthony Stokes is not banking on his first goal for Celtic guaranteeing him anything from manager Neil Lennon.

The former Hibs striker was dropped to the bench for the trip to Kilmarnock yesterday but, with Celtic trailing to an early Conor Sammon goal, he came off the bench in the 21st minute when the luckless Paddy McCourt injured his shoulder.

Just before the break, Stokes was brought down by defender Frazer Wright inside the box, which allowed fellow Irishman Daryl Murphy to equalise from the penalty spot.

And, in the 51st minute, Stokes converted a cross from Emilio Izaguirre from close range for the winner which keeps the Parkhead men only behind SPL leaders Rangers on goals scored.

Asked if his goal should see him back in the starting XI, Stokes said: "Definitely not.

"I think I still need to do it every day in training because there is a lot of competition for places, but it won't do myself any harm scoring.

"It can be hard for the first five or ten minutes to get into the game when you come on as a substitute but it was fine.

"I got one or two early touches and that helped me settle in to the game."

Sammon heaped praise on new signing Alexei Eremenko, who played him in for Kilmarnock's goal with a clever pass. The Irishman said: "His range of passing is unbelievable and in training last week I was calling him the quarterback.

"No matter what run I was making he would find me.

"That happened yesterday and I know if I make clever runs, he has the quality to pick me out."

Neil Lennon praised his players for coming from behind for the first time this season.

It was Lennon's 13th successive SPL win as Celtic manager - his fifth this season - but it came only after Sammon had given Killie a shock lead, the first goal the Hoops had conceded in the league.

The Celtic manager was far from pleased at how his side started the game - but happy at the way they turned it around.

"We were wasteful in possession early on, and ill- disciplined in our defensive shape at times," he said.

"The goal was preventable, we got rolled in midfield and Glenn Loovens turned his back and Sammon got across him and tucked it in.

"Sooner or later we were going to concede a goal and it was the reaction that we were looking for and we got that.

"I'm delighted that we showed a lot character and as the game wore on, we got stronger and stronger. I thought we totally dominated the second half but it's always difficult to break a team down when they set up defensively like that."

Lennon had sympathy for McCourt, who started for the first time since injuring his neck against Inverness on the opening day of the season, only to come off with a shoulder problem after 21 minutes.The former club skipper said: "He felt something go in his shoulder and we have to wait and see how he is tomorrow. It seems to be stop-start for him.

"Since he's come here it's been one step forward and two steps back. But, in the last few weeks, he has looked really fit and healthy.

"It's a blow for him and blow for us and we are hoping it won't be too serious.

"Hopefully, he won't be out for too long because we will miss him."

Killie boss Mixu Paatelainen had few complaints about the result and refuted suggestions that his side scored too early in the game.

He said: "It's never too early or late to score. We score one and we go for the second but all credit to Celtic, we were playing against a fantastic team and they put us under pressure

"But I felt we started fantastically well and it's not often you dominate against the Old Firm, they usually put you under pressure straight away.

"After we scored we stopped, they pushed us deep but we could have cleared our lines a little bit better.

"It's another learning experience for the players and hopefully one day you get it right."