LENNON’S £5m PRICE TAG FOR STAR

won’t sell ourselves short if bids come in. ‘We had a bid last year which was nowhere near our valuation and I was surprised there was no interest in him in January. ‘We will see what the summer brings. ‘But, in this day and age, £5m would cover it.’ Lennon, meanwhile, has again called for better protection for McGinn and his team-mates from match officials. Recalling recent games against Hearts and St Johnstone when his team fell victim to some roughhouse tactics, he said: ‘They (St Johnstone) had five bookings, so that’s half the outfield team booked. There were some very borderline tackles going in on the players. ‘Some were crass and some were lunges, the combination of tackles should have resulted in at least one player being sent off. ‘Brutality is the wrong word, it’s the coarseness of the tackling that has upset me. ‘I don’t mind tackles or shoulder charges, but the lateness and off-the-ball stuff against my team; it’s up in the 20s most weeks when I come out and say we need more protection. ‘We are the most fouled team in the league now,’ added Lennon, whose team have been on the end of 421 fouls — an average of over 14 per game in the Premiership. ‘The one on McGinn, he’s had two now — Harry Cochrane and Blair Alston — and to me they’re unacceptable in the game. ‘They’re not tackles, they’re just kicking a player off the ball to stop him progressing. ‘John, being strong minded and a strong build, is probably pretty fortunate to go away with Scotland after his treatment on the Friday night (against Hearts).’