Lennon’s got high hopes for his clever Bhoys with telepathic understanding

Neil Lennon is convinced rolling the dice on Celtic’s title charge landed a deadly double act that edged the Hoops out of sight.

The Parkhead boss believes his gamble of pairing Odsonne Edouard with a revitalised Leigh Griffiths proved the difference after the January break.

With the Scottish football suspended indefinitely, the Northern Irishman insists the national lockdown arrived at a time when his 3- 5-2 formation was clicking into top gear.

Celtic were averaging over three goals per game this year before the coronavirus crisis sent our game into cold storage.

And Lennon heaped praise on a twin strike partnership that has become the brains of his bold new approach.

He said: “It’s fair to say they’ve done all right together.

“I was delighted when they both got on the scoresheet against St Mirren just before things were brought to a halt, especially with Leigh getting a hat-trick.

“I knew how much that meant to him. He’s nearly there.

“You tend to find that clever players are on the same wavelength – it’s something you can’t coach.

“They’re l inking up by making split-second decisions on the pitch and it’s not something I would take credit for.

“We do work on combinations to come from him in terms of fitness. But he’s a natural-born scorer and you can’t buy that – plus I thought the formation would suit us.

“It has brought the best out of Odsonne as well. He’s a top player and having Leigh beside him has taken off him a little bit of the workload.

“Once Odsonne ful ly matures physically, he’ll be a proper No.9.

“He has only just turned 22 and there’s growth still to come from him but he’ll be the main striker during his peak years.

“Plus our midfield is as good as anyone’s with a combination of Scott Brown, Callum McGregor, Ryan Christie, Tom Rogic, Olivier Ntcham and Nir Bitton.”

With a lack of clarity over when or if the current campaign will resume, Lennon can only reflect on a last few months which combined a Europa League exit to FC Copenhagen with pressing the accelerator down on their domestic ambitions.

He said: “The only real disappointment was conceding that late goal against FC Copenhagen immediately after we had levelled.

“Our game management let us down a little on that occasion.

“The only points we’ve dropped since the winter break were at Livingston and, even then, we were really good that day.day.”