INTERNATIONAL PLAY-BHOYS

Neil Lennon hopes to see his Hoops return from the break-in peak form

- TONY CONNELLY

CELTIC’S performance against Motherwell was exactly what Neil Lennon wanted to see from his players after a turbulent week. The international break may prevent them from immediately building on that form, but Neil Lennon believes this period can help the players find their peak and return fully prepared to overcome the challenges that lie ahead.

The manager is pleased with what he saw from his players in Celtic’s dominant 3-0 win against Motherwell at Paradise on Sunday. It was a well-deserved three points for the champions who could well have scored three more with some of the chances they created.

Stephen Robinson’s side would have arrived at Celtic Park hopeful their opponents were in a weakened state after their 2-1 defeat to Ferencvaros in the second round of Champions League qualification four days earlier.

Instead, they met a Celtic side determined to plough through the disappointment of midweek and move on. James Forrest put Celtic ahead in the first half with a brilliant finish to cap off a wonderful run and assist from his team-mate Callum McGregor.

Albian Ajeti continued his excellent start to his Celtic career with goal number two and Christopher Jullien completed the scoring with the third of the afternoon.

Neil Lennon praised his players for their overall display and how they broke down a well-organised Well defence.

“I’m delighted with the performance,” said the manager in an exclusive interview with the Celtic View. “I thought we got better as the game went on. We were a little bit off tempo in the first half albeit we had good control of the game. We scored a great goal but we never opened up Motherwell as much as we would have liked.