Caretaker boss Lennon has guided Celtic to two wins in as many games

Neil Lennon believes Celtic should stop relying on Robbie Keane to score goals, after the on-loan striker's penalty secured a 1-0 victory over Hibs.

The caretaker manager praised Keane's class, but commended his side on a strong team performance at Easter Road.

"We've got things to work on and I don't want to rely on Robbie Keane for goals," Lennon told BBC Scotland.

"Robbie will play as long as he's here. It's not to difficult to pick him - he's the first name on the sheet."

Keane's 62nd-minute penalty secured victory for Celtic and was the Irishman's 12th goal since arriving at Celtic on loan from Spurs in January.

Robbie Keane's a brilliant player, he's world class - and there's not too many of them going about Celtic caretaker boss Neil Lennon

Lennon singled out Keane as a big influence on Celtic's performance, but was equally happy with the combined efforts of his temporary charges.

"Robbie's a brilliant player, he's world-class - and there's not too many of them going about.

"We didn't start as well as we started last week - Hibs put us on the back foot - we were struggling to deal with Colin Nish initially, but once we got to grips with the game, the big players performed today.

"Lee Naylor was outstanding and Aiden McGeady got us through the rough period, then I though we dominated the game in the second half.

"Away from home in Scotland, you have no divine right to win games. No-one is going to play silky football, especially on a pitch like that.

"We had to play our football further up the pitch and I thought Marc-Antoine Fortune was excellent as well; it was a great team performance.

"It was scrappy at times, but it's early days."

Celtic now face First Division outfit Raith Rovers in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup and Lennon was pleased to maintain his 100% record in charge of the Glasgow club.

"Today and next week are massive for the club in terms of the season - so that'll put them in good spirits," said Lennon.

"They've stuck at it and shown people they can dig out results, and that's important."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version