Lennon: I did feel for relegated Jambos

NEIL LENNON admits he had sympathy for Hearts being dumped into the Championship.

The Celtic boss was able to celebrate after the last campaign was cut short due to Covid and the controversial SPFL vote crowned his team champions.

But that curtailment plunged the Tynecastle club into the second tier.

And he said: “I thought there may have been another way around things.

“But the clubs took the vote that it was the best way to take the game forward. But, yeah, I had sympathy for Hearts.

“They’re now good enough to come out of the Championship at the first attempt. They have an excellent manager (Robbie Neilson) who has done it before with them. He knows the club and they play a

TAUNT Old rival Craig Levein good brand of football. They have recruited well.

“They have ex-Premier League players. This is as tough a game as we could expect at this level.

“They have Steven Naismith, Andy Halliday, Olly Lee who has played Premier League and Liam Boyce, an international striker.

“And they have Craig Gordon, who was an outstanding player here.

“With recent results, they’ll be confident and will play with belief. I’m not taking anything for granted.”

Lennon shattered Hearts when Celtic triumphed in the 2019 final.

Craig Levein was Jambos boss that day and he reckons Neilson’s team have a better chance as the holders are “fragile”.

Lennon added: “Craig has an opinion. He’s entitled to it. I wouldn’t say we are massively flying or fullsteam ahead but there is potential for us to do that.”