Lennon delighted with ‘powerful’ performance

Ajer limped from the Friends Arena with a groin injury after 14 minutes while right-back Hatem Abd Elhamed faces two weeks on the sidelines with a hairline fracture. With new loan signing Moritz Bauer poised for an Old Firm baptism of fire, Edouard allayed fears over his fitness after cramping up after 70 minutes. ‘It’s okay,’ said the Frenchman. ‘It’s no problem. I will be 100 per cent for Sunday.’ Injury worries were the only negative from a night of flowing attacking football, James Forrest producing a man-of-the-match display to open the scoring, before Mikey Johnston forced keeper Oscar Linner into an own goal before half-time. New £7million signing Christopher Jullien and substitute Lewis Morgan both scored their first goals for the club in the final minutes as Celtic secured a 6-1 aggregate victory. ‘We will assess how Kris is for Sunday but he will be doubtful,’ admitted Lennon. ‘Odsonne came off with cramp so he should be absolutely fine. ‘Ajer is a groin strain. He was just feeling it when he was running and he’s the type of player who won’t come off easily. He was worrying about it deteriorating. We will assess him tomorrow and on Saturday because he is such a huge presence.’ Asked if he could strengthen his squad before the window closes on Monday, Lennon was guarded in his response. ‘Hopefully,’ he replied. ‘We have Moritz Bauer in now and he may come into contention for Ibrox with Kristoffer struggling. Hatem we will have to assess, but he has been very sore with a slight hairline fracture. ‘We have to assess him but sometimes it can take a couple of weeks to recover from something like that. We will look to add before the window shuts and hopefully move a couple of players out as well.’ Asked if he could have reinforcements before facing Rangers, he added: ‘Possibly. I will have to speak with the big man (Peter Lawwell).’ Lennon believes a place in the last 32 of the competition is far from impossible. ‘Absolutely I think we can get through the group,’ he said. ‘There’s more to come from this team. I thought it was an outstanding team performance. To score four goals away in Europe against a champion team is no mean feat but we looked very powerful.’ Lennon played down reports in Romania of a £3m move for Cluj striker Billel Omrani, saying: ‘We are looking at a lot of players, but not to my knowledge.’ Dismissing suggestions in the Italian press that Lazio could yet move for Edouard, he added: ‘We don’t want him to go, you can see we have the makings of a very good team and it’s important to keep your kingpins and he is certainly one of them.’ Celtic, meanwhile, claimed the away section of the ground was infiltrated by fans of AIK’s rivals Hammarby, and said they were to blame for violent scenes and the firing of pyrotechnics before the game and at half-time. Facing another potential UEFA punishment after up to eight flares were ignited before kickoff and punches exchanged between stewards, police and supporters, a club statement said: ‘Celtic were concerned that AIK sold to locals in their section. It was clear many Hammarby fans were in the Celtic sections and this was raised by Celtic officials before the match. ‘A lot of Swedish fans managed to infiltrate the away section which we believe was a major factor in the issues which arose, there was a lack of control at the access points to the Celtic section. We are aware that a number of Swedish supporters entered the area for visiting fans and we are currently investigating events.’

CELTIC striker Odsonne Edouard insists he’s ready to lead the line against Rangers on Sunday after a Europa League injury scare.

Minutes after a 4-1 rout of AIK Stockholm secured a place in today’s Monte Carlo draw for the group stage — where they could face Manchester United or Arsenal — Neil Lennon was facing up to an Ibrox injury crisis. Kristoffer