TRANSFER SPECULATION WON’T DRIVE LENNON TO DISTRACTION

Lennon brushes off speculation as he backs Edouard and Ajer to shine

ARRIVING in the Latvian capital of Riga for a Europa League qualifier, Celtic took all necessary steps to wrap players in a protective bubble.

Scotland’s champions took the precaution of flying out two days before the game. They instructed players to go no further than the team hotel and training. Yesterday, staff and team were tested for the second time this week.

In the fight to contain coronavirus, clubs can construct a shield around their most valuable assets.

The one thing they can’t insulate players against is the relentless buzz of transfer speculation.

Odsonne Edouard’s omission from the starting XI for Saturday’s 3-2 win over Livingston triggered a fresh bout of conjecture.

The France Under-21 striker was left out after telling manager Neil Lennon that he felt jaded the day before the game.

Yet former Aberdeen striker

Duncan Shearer has already queried the striker’s body language.

Admired by a raft of clubs in England, Edouard’s £40million price tag has discouraged any firm offers. With the transfer window pushed back to October 5, however, Celtic boss Neil Lennon was forced to offer assurances on his star man’s fitness and state of mind ahead of tonight’s one-leg third qualifying round encounter.

‘He’s trained well the last couple of days and he’s looking forward to playing,’ said the Parkhead boss. ‘He’s itching to play. To be fair, all of them are.

‘We have a lot of games and, sometimes, you have to listen to where the player is coming from.’

Edouard missed the Champions League defeat to Ferencvaros and a home league win over Motherwell with a thigh injury.

Called up by France Under-21s, he then travelled to Georgia and Azerbaijan before returning to Scotland for a game against Ross County in Dingwall. His omission from the Livingston game only added to a growing suspicion that something is not quite right.

‘He missed a couple of games, came back in, and three games in a week might have been too much for him,’ reasoned Lennon.

‘We made the right decision (to leave him out). We won the (Livingston) game, he’s fresh, and it sets us up nicely for this game.

‘We are trying to keep it as fresh and as balanced as we can. If we can negotiate this, it’s Hibs at the weekend, then another Euro game, then St Johnstone after that, so it’s still a lot of games.’

Much of the transfer speculation surrounding Celtic players now is self-inflicted.

In the aftermath of the Ferencvaros defeat, Lennon questioned the commitment of an unnamed group of players who he said wanted to leave the club.

Along with Edouard and Olivier Ntcham, the name of Kristoffer Ajer was also banded around — and the Norwegian defender has once again been heavily linked with AC Milan.

‘He is very focused,’ countered Lennon. ‘He will start tomorrow and he’s looking forward to the game.

‘You can’t control speculation. As always, there’s been no concrete offers or concrete confirmation of anything and we don’t want to sell him.

‘He’s in a good place mentally. I spoke to him on it yesterday and I’m there to support him.

‘It can sometimes be a very distracting situation that he finds himself in, but he’s getting all the support he can from myself and the backroom staff and obviously his team-mates.’

Victory tonight would earn Celtic a one-leg play-off for a place in the group stage next Thursday against Bosnian side Sarajevo or Montenegro’s Buducnost Podgorica.

Under pressure from supporters to deliver European football for the rest of 2020, Lennon knows the importance of a settled and focused mindset this evening.

‘The boys are okay,’ he insisted. ‘They are restricted to their hotel, so that is something we have not been used to. It’s been hot.

‘Basically, we came out early because we wanted to make sure everything ran smoothly.

‘You are not sure really what you are going into and it is very strict. We were tested again on Wednesday morning and that was our second test of the week.

‘We can’t leave the hotel and can only go to the ground for training and then for the game.

‘We just wanted to cover all of the bases and make sure there were no mishaps.’

For Scots everywhere, lockdown in some shape or form has now become a grim and unavoidable reality.

With Boli Bolingoli now off the premises after his misdemeanour, Celtic players are no exception.

‘There was a team meeting on Wednesday afternoon when we went through things and analysed the opposition,’ added Lennon. ‘The option was there to train a little bit longer, although not too much. Just to keep them active.

‘We were thinking about having a quiz on Wednesday night just for a bit of fun and to keep them stimulated.

‘But the hotel is good. There are good facilities the players can use and it’s not been too bad.

‘It’s just being confined indoors, which is something that is a bit new for them.’

Celtic’s £7m French central defender Christopher Jullien remained in Glasgow after suffering a back spasm.

And Riga’s own preparations have not been without mishap. Manager Oleg Kononov has returned home to his native Russia for personal reasons while Mihails Konevs — who led Riga to the Latvian title last year — has taken over the reins.

‘Defensively they are pretty solid and have kept some clean sheets of late,’ observed Lennon.

‘They have a few Brazilians in their squad and a good physical striker who usually plays an hour and then they change it.

‘I think they’ll be a tough nut to crack.’