HOOPS BOSS SAYS GERS VICTORY WAS MAKING OF JULLIEN

Kris Ajer is the bedrock of a recent Celtic run that has seen them concede just seven goals in 11 straight wins.

Lennon said: “It was maybe the real turning point that day at Ibrox, an injection of confidence for Chris.

“Until then he was struggling to find his feet in terms of the pace of the game and our style of play.

“He wasn’t ready. You could see it in performances, his movement, the quickness of his feet and getting under the ball at times in the air.

“He wasn’t fully ready because he hadn’t done a full pre season with us.

“If I had thrown him out there we could have damaged him irreparably. He wasn’t ready to play and neither was Boli Bolingoli.

“Chris put in a marvellous performance at Ibrox – and since that day, he hasn’t looked back.

“He has been consistency personified.”

The only person with higher expectations for the £7m man than an expectant Celtic support was Jullien himself.

And the bar he set became evident to Lennon when he was the first player to acknowledge he had fallen below it.

Lennon said: “I like that about him. He struggled against Lyndon Dykes in the 2-0 defeat by

Livingston but we didn’t single him out.

“Instead he held up his hand and admitted he hadn’t done as well as he should.

“His attitude was brilliant and he knew he needed to make adjustments.

“And he has learned from that. A week or two ago at home to Livi he handled Dykes brilliantly.

“We won 4-0 and he played him very well. You could see there was a lesson learned.

“You could see in training there were bits and pieces that were making him frustrated.

“He really is a perfectionist. He works at his game, individual aspects of it, all the time. And now he is in a good groove.

“He was out-standing in Lazio and in league games he has looked good.

“He has a maturity, a presence. There is also an intelligence about him away from football – he is very grounded.”