Boss cautious of Killie after heartache in cup

Neil Lennon will be cautious of Kilmarnock when Celtic return to Ladbrokes Premiership duty at Parkhead tomorrow.

Killie were knocked out of the William Hill Scottish Cup by Aberdeen on Wednesday night in a dramatic replay in Ayrshire which ended in a 4-3 win for the Dons.

The following evening Celtic battled to a 1-1 draw with FC Copenhagen in the first-leg of their Europa League last-32 tie at the Parken stadium in Denmark, leaving the champions favourites to finish the job off next week in Glasgow.

Before that, however, the Hoops will hope to end the weekend with at least their 10-point lead over Rangers at the top of the table intact but Lennon believes Alex Dyer’s Killie, who beat the Light Blues 2-1 at Rugby Park recently, will not make it easy.

He said: “It’s against difficult opponents who probably had a bitterly disappointing night in midweek but Alex has them playing pretty well.

“They scored goals in midweek and they obviously beat Rangers the week before.

“They are tough opposition and we will have to be very wary of them.

“We will have to see how our players are and we’ll get a good look at them on Saturday.”

One key Celtic player set to miss out is skipper Scott Brown, who came off in the second half in Denmark with a calf injury.

Lennon said: “He might struggle but that’s just an initial reaction.

“He felt something in his calf when he stretched. It’s not like him to come off. He will be assessed and we’ll know more.”

Lennon was glad to see 19-yearold right-back Jeremie Frimpong make his European debut against FC Copenhagen.

The Northern Irishman said: “It was a good experience for him, very good experience. For one so young he handled the occasion very well.”

Meanwhile, Alex Dyer has told his Kilmarnock side they do not have time to sulk about Wednesday’s extra-time collapse.

Killie thought they were on the verge the Scottish Cup quarter-finals as they played out a thrilling Rugby Park replay with Aberdeen.

They led the Dons 3-2 with just a few minutes left of the additional half hour but were left stunned as Derek McInnes’ team snatched victory at the death after Sam Cosgrove’s penalty was followed up by an own goal from Connor Johnson.

Dyer said: “We’ve got another game – a tough game – on Sunday. Yes the boys are obviously down but we have to move on from the other night and move on quickly.

“There are a lot of lessons to be learned. It’s a night that we have to put to bed but we will learn. I will learn from it too as manager. But I believe we can go to Celtic Park and get a result.”

● Celtic have been handed a £4,000 fine for failing to ensure players conducted themselves in an “orderly fashion” following an incident in their William Hill Scottish Cup win over Partick Thistle.

But the Scottish champions and Hamilton have avoided punishment following a confrontation during their recent meeting.

The fine relates to a stoppage-time incident during Celtic’s 2-1 victory over the Jags on January 18 when defender Jozo Simunovic was seen to confront referee Alan Muir after the official handed Thistle a late penalty.