Lenny hails Jullien but didn’t want Dons semi
NEIL LENNON hailed his “Jull in the crown” as Celtic swept into the Scottish Cup semi-finals and kept their treble dreams alive.
French defender Christopher Jullien swung a foot at Ryan Christie’s freekick to see off St Johnstone and set up a Hampden showdown with Aberdeen.
Lennon confessed facing the Dons – a fifth Hampden meeting in four seasons – was the tie he wanted least. But he lavished praise on his players for their neversay-die attitude in domestic
competition. Lennon said: “I don’t know who scored. Sky Sports said Jullien although he says he didn’t get a touch.
“But it was the run that made the goal. He got in the eyeline of the goalkeeper – who was absolutely marvellous – but I think it went straight in.
“When we looked at Jullien scoring goals was something we thought he could do in Scotland and Europe. He’s a threat and he has worked on it as he wants to get on the end of things.
“My old manager Martin O’Neill had plenty of players like that at Leicester and Celtic. Jullien would fit right into that mould. He’s brave and puts his head on things in both boxes.
“Myself and Derek (McInnes) would have liked to have avoided each other. It will be tough but it would have been anyway, no matter who we had drawn.
“Hibs are in good form, Hearts had a great win on Saturday night and Aberdeen can beat anybody on their day.
“The good thing is we have a semi-final to look forward to and we can park it now. We still have a lot to play for this season off the back of a disappointing result on Thursday.”
Lennon admitted Celtic carried a Europa League hangover into the first half at Perth but were much better after the break.
Celtic will now make a 15th trip to Hampden since they last lost a domestic knockout game, against Rangers at the National Stadium in April 2016.
Lennon added: “We were a little tepid in the first half and could have upped the tempo a bit more. We asked them to do that in the second half and I got what I wanted.
“We created some really good chances to go ahead before we scored and had good control in the main but at 0-0 the tie is up in the air.
“That’s 34 games undefeated and that’s amazing. It can go at any time so they want to keep it running as long as they can. They’re coming up against all sorts of opposition and they’re dealing with it.
“They’ve faced some difficult opposition – and St Johnstone was difficult, mentally and physically after Thursday. They’ve picked themselves up but they’re good that way.
“They didn’t have long to dwell on it.
“Their fitness levels were good too and if some of them were out on their feet at the end it was understandable.
“You know what? They’re human beings and can’t keep churning out result after result and performance after performance. People expect that of them but it’s not easy.
“They just will not leave it. There’s something in there that they just want to keep it going.”
Saints boss Tommy Wright praised his side, who had shipped 30 goals in nine previous games against Celtic.
He said: “We earned enough to get a draw but we didn’t defend a set-play and that cost us.
“We thought we weathered the storm, particularly in the second half. We had chances throughout and were a real attacking threat. We went toe to toe with the best team in the country for a long time and just fell short.”