Neil Lennon has said that he got the reaction he wanted out of his Celtic players after they beat Killie 4-0 last night. A first half header from Scott Brown, a brace from Odsonne Edouard and a late finish by Albian Ajeti completed the rout against manager-less Killie as Celtic bounced back from the 2-1 defeat to St Mirren with a win.

Lennon, who is under fierce pressure from the Celtic support, says that this is what he wanted his players to do after he publicly canned them in the wake of the shock defeat to Jim Goodwin’s side. The win takes Celtic to within twenty points of Rangers, having played one game less.

The league title seems impossible now but Lennon will at least be happy that his players responded to his message at the weekend and he will hope it will be enough to galvanise his players to go on a run until the end of the season.

Rangers play tomorrow at home to St Johnstone before travelling to bottom club Hamilton Accies on Sunday. Celtic, meanwhile, host Motherwell on Saturday with a 3pm kick-off.