NEIL LENNON spoke of his pride in his Celtic players after their perseverance say them get past Dunfermline in the Betfred Cup this afternoon at Celtic Park.
A goal deep into the second half of injury time gave Celtic a 2-1 lead and finally broke the stubborn Fife resistance when they had their hopes built up of earning a penalty shoot-out.
“We dominated the game. I’m really proud of the players, they showed a lot of character today,” the Celtic manager said
“After European games, you can be a bit leggy. I’ve been there as a player before. We didn’t deserve the game to go to extra-time. I’m delighted we’re into the next round.”
Lennon was quick to praise the stubborn Pars who certainly gave absolutely everything they had to give Celtic an uncomfortable afternoon.
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“Dunfermline deserve credit, they defended well and stuck to their game plan.
“We showed a lot of patience and we got there in the end. It’s a test of character sometimes, and that was the case today,” Lenny said.
On the injury to Kris Ajer that saw him replaced by Olivier Ntcham with Nir Bitton dropping back into defence, the manager had encouraging news ahead of Thursday night’s Europa League playoff with AIK Stockholm.
“Ajer popped his shoulder, but we think he’s okay now. Mikey (Johnston)had cramp, but I was very impressed with him. Boli also cramped up but should be fine.”
