Lennon has prolific Hoops all fired up for massive Euro crunch
NEIL Lennon admits the real test comes tonight in the Champions League third qualifying round first leg tie away to Romanian champions Cluj despite the many positives from Saturday’s 7-0 Flag Day win over St Johnstone.
Lurgan man Lennon expects a tough game from an experienced and capable opponent.
“We’re as prepared as we can be and, since Saturday, we’ve watched a lot of footage, including both of their games against Maccabi Tel Aviv,” said the Hoops manager.
“But it’s all on the night in terms of how we approach the game to start with. We need to be mentally strong and have good concentration.
“I’ve been clear on what we want to do in this tie, particularly away from home. It’ll be a competitive game, and both teams will want to win the tie. We’ve got a bit of momentum, we’ve got a good result at the weekend going into the tie, and that will give us a bit of impetus.”
Not only did Celtic score seven goals from five different scorers on Saturday, each player who found the net also provided an assist on the day.
With that in mind, the manager added: “Psychologically, that’ll give the players a boost going into the game, but this game is a totally different animal.”
Celtic have also announced that attacking midfielder Liam Burt has joined the club from Rangers.
Burt, who has signed a twoyear contract, will be part of the Celtic Reserve squad under the guidance of Tommy McIntyre, and will be looking to push through towards the first-team during the next two years.
Talented young goalkeeper Vincent Angelini has signed his first professional contract with the club.
Angelini has come through the Celtic Youth Academy’s successful partnership with St Ninian’s High School, Kirkintilloch, which he has been part of for the past four years. Angelini, who is the grandson of Celtic legend Davie Hay, will be part of the 18s squad.
The Hoops, meanwhile, have won an appeal to allow them to erect a giant rotating screen outside their stadium. Glasgow City Council originally rejected plans for an 8x4m LED display as it would “distract motorists”.
But the Hoops yesterday won the right to install the screen, set on an 8m pole, after appealing to the Scottish Government.
The ruling stated: “Given the location of the proposed advertisement within the immediate environs of a very large football stadium it would not be out of keeping with the scale of the stadium. It would not impact on public safety.”