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McGregor and Forrest staying at home to avoid burnout risk

CELTIC boss Neil Lennon says he won’t put Callum McGregor and James Forrest at risk of burnout by playing them too often.

The Scotland duo have been left at home for tonight’s second leg of the Champions League qualifier against Nomme Kalju in Estonia.

Lennon, whose team are leading 5-0 from last week’s match in Glasgow, will hand £7million defender Christopher Jullien his competitive debut.

A first start for Israeli right-back Hatem Abd Elhamed has been held up by paperwork, but goalkeeper Craig Gordon will make his first start in seven months.

‘Christopher will play, we’ll get him into a competitive match situation and I think it’s a good opportunity,’ said Lennon.

‘Craig Gordon has a good chance of starting as well. We’re not going to change it up too much. We’ve left McGregor and Forrest at home because those two have played a lot of football and it’s a good opportunity to give them a little bit of respite because the games are going to come thick and fast again.

‘But I want to win the game tomorrow night. I think it would be good for keeping the momentum going, so we’ll still put a very strong team out, obviously.’

Asked if he is wary of McGregor and

Forrest suffering burnout after playing 69 and 64 games respectively last season, Lennon nodded: ‘Exactly. Callum’s been away on international duty in the summer, so he hasn’t really had much of a break.

‘So even though it’s only a couple of days, I think even that will be very good for him mentally and physically, as it will be for Jamesie as well.’

Suspended for Saturday’s Premiership curtain raiser against St Johnstone, Jullien is now fit enough to start in the Le Coq Arena.

Lennon admitted: ‘He’s looking better. Sharper. Obviously that all comes with getting used to the tempo of the training and getting used to the players, but we’re pleased with the progress he’s making now. He’s itching to play, so he will play.’

Asked if it is important that Jullien looks good from the start, given that people will judge him on the price tag, Lennon said: ‘We’re not going to judge him on one game. We judged the signing on what we saw of him playing for Toulouse at a very high level for the last number of years, and he played very consistently.

‘His attitude has been spot on, he’s hungry and he wants to show what he can do now.

‘He’s a physical, dominant centre-half, he’s proficient with both feet and he dominates the ball in both boxes which, at times, is what you need — certainly in the British game.

‘He will be a threat, there’s no question of that, he has goals in him from setplays and we like him as a defender as well. We’re all looking forward to seeing him and he’s looking forward to it.’

Confirming that negotiations to sign a second right-back have ‘stalled’, Lennon will now move on to other targets, with Lech Poznan’s £5millionrated Robert Gumny one of a number of back-up targets.

‘We’re no further down the line with that one,’ said the Celtic boss. ‘That has stalled, so we may have to look elsewhere.’

Asked when he anticipates further new arrivals, Lennon added: ‘Before the weekend, possibly.

‘We will discuss that when we get back on Wednesday, it would be great if we could. And we will try and get one or two in before the next tie if we qualify, which we should do, for next week.’

The paperwork for Abd Elhamed came through too late for him to play tonight, with the Israeli defender set to play a bounce game against Wolves tomorrow.

‘The boys are calling him Big Tam already,’ smiled Lennon (pictured). ‘Twenty minutes in the door and he has a new Scottish nickname.

‘So we are pleased with what we are seeing with him.

‘He is a little bit down because he has not trained much, so the minutes on the pitch on Wednesday will do him the world of good and hopefully, if he stays injury-free, he will be in the squad for the opener.

‘He is very quick, which is always a good asset to have in the team.

‘He is technically good, a good size and he looks a hungry type — which is exactly what you want.’

Meanwhile, Nomme Kalju captain Max Ugge insists the Estonian champions have not given up hope of hitting Celtic for six.

The Italian defender described the loss of three first-half goals in last week’s 5-0 defeat as ‘like cutting off your leg’.

However, in front of a home crowd tonight, Ugge said the hosts still have to believe the deficit can be overturned in what would be a Champions League miracle.

‘You have to believe in what you do. Anything can happen in football,’ he said.

‘I hope to score five goals, maybe even six. It won’t be easy but we’ll try our best.

‘It’s not an easy moment after losing 5-0 in the first match but every game is a new game and we have to think we can produce a better performance.

‘I believe we can do better, both personally and as a team, and it’s a chance for us to show that.

‘Everyone wants to play in a game like this against Celtic and the fans will give us more energy.’

The Le Coq Arena holds 14,500, but is expected to host a crowd of around 4,000 for a game most now justifiably regard as a foregone conclusion after the Estonians’ horror show at Parkhead.

Ugge added: ‘If you make the kind of mistakes we did and lose concentration against this level of opponent then 90 per cent of the time it’s a goal.

‘It was hard to be 3-0 down at half-time as it’s like cutting off your leg. It’s not like we don’t have pressure because we don’t want the same outcome as the first match.

‘We have to show we’re ready for the challenge. We are in front of our own fans and we don’t want to make them sad.’

Kalju coach Roman Kozhukhovskyi urged home supporters to act as a 12th man for his side, saying: ‘This tie is a big date on the calendar for us.

‘We hope that our supporters come out to back us. It has been a very busy week for us with a lot of video analysis. ‘We have studied that match and looked at the mistakes we made and where we went wrong. ‘We had good discipline in Glasgow, up until the moment we lost the first goal.

‘After that it became difficult for us very quickly. ‘Every match is a new match but we are at home now and we will feel the 12th man in the stands. ‘Everything that happened in Glasgow was a good lesson for everyone at the club.’