CELTIC manager Neil Lennon believes his side will be unstoppable for the rest of this season if they can repeat the second- half form which took them into the League Cup semi-finals last night.
Trailing 1-0 to Hibs at the interval, Celtic produced their most fluent and incisive football of the season so far to cruise to a 4-1 success.
Lennon, whose team have struggled for consistency and form since the start of the campaign, is hopeful it represents a significant turning point.
“The second half was the best we have played in a while,” enthused Lennon.
“It was exactly the type of performance I have been asking them for. They gave me everything in terms of running power, quality on the ball, passing and finishing.
“There are not many teams who can live with them when they play like that. I said at the weekend that someone was going to take a beating from us and I think that there are more beatings to come from this team.
“That’s the team I know I’ve got, the team that played the football they did in the second half tonight.”
Lennon heaped praise on James Forrest, the 20-year-old Scotland winger who sparked Celtic’s recovery with two goals in the opening 13 minutes of the second-half.
“He is a great talent, there’s no doubt about it,” said Lennon. “He can go inside or outside and can do it at pace. He is menacing and very hard to stop.
“I told him to change his boots at half-time, he was wearing those white moulded things and was dithering on the ball. But he’s a kid who responds when you give him advice and he was magnificent in the second-half.”
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Despite his obvious delight and satisfaction last night, Lennon could not avoid continuing concern over his side’s defensive vulnerability, which was again in evidence when Daniel Majstorovic’s own goal gave Hibs their early lead.
“It was people switching off and not doing their jobs properly,” said the Celtic manager.
“It was a blow and obviously disappointing. We could have been 2-0 down before half-time and we have to thank Fraser Forster to thank for a great save from Leigh Griffiths. We were sloppy at times in possession.”
Celtic are now odds-on favourites to win the League Cup but Lennon insists they will take nothing for granted as they await the draw, where they join Kilmarnock, Falkirk and Ayr United.
“You only have to look back 18 months or so to when we lost to Ross County in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup,” he said.
“So we will wait and see what the draw brings but we won’t be making any assumptions. But I’m sure we will be serious favourites to win it.
“We have a semi-final to look forward to but we can put it to bed now and concentrate on the league. We have Hibs again on Saturday and while we won’t be complacent, we will be hard to beat if we play like that.”
Lennon expects to be without Charlie Mulgrew again on Saturday as the defender continues to struggle with the ankle injury which sidelined him last night.
But he had better news to report on striker Mohamed Bangura, with a scan on the Sierra Leone player’s knee injury showing surgery is not required and that he may be fit to play again in a fortnight.
There was little to cheer Hibs manager Colin Calderwood last night as he was left to reflect ruefully on his team’s second-half disintegration.
“We have really spurned the opportunity of a big result,” said Calderwood. “No-one will remember the first half now, their perception of us will be based on the second-half.
“We should be able to defend a lot better than that and it’s as disturbing as it is disappointing. It is who we are, we have to roll with the punches and recover. The experience of what happened will bring better players out, making better decisions in the future. If not, then they won’t be playing SPL football.”
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SEMI-FINAL DRAW: THE Scottish Football League has still to arrange a date for the Scottish Communities League Cup semi-final draw, although it is expected to be held next week. The last-four ties are due to be played on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 January 2012 but the SFL is still in discussions with the Scottish Government regarding a date, time and venue for the draw.
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