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Celtic coach Neil Lennon insists he was “absolutely delighted” with his team’s performance when they beat St Mirren at Paisley.
The champs were left behind early on, but Shane Duffy’s draw and a James Forrest header saw them move three points off the top.
Despite the narrow margin of victory, the Celtic manager praised his team’s performance after the final whistle.
Lennon told BBC Scotland: “We react very well to a bad start, conceding from a set piece is always very disappointing.”
“But our reaction was excellent and we played with a lot of intensity in the first half and we deserved to be in front at half-time.
“Two really good goals, and then we dominated in the second half, although St Mirren defended very, very low.
“We worked the ball, we tried to probe, our attitude towards the goal was great.
“We got the penalty to go 3-1 up (and that) would have put a fairer reflection on the scoreboard from my point of view.
“So I am absolutely delighted, we have used the game in hand to win and now we have closed the gap with the teams that are above us.
“We came to Saturday expecting another good performance.”
Both goals came from headers, with Duffy heading off a free kick before Forrest converted a Ryan Christie cross.
Lennon said: “Shane is obviously a huge threat, the delivery was fantastic and he goes and makes it happen.”
“He was disappointed in his role in the goal we conceded and his reaction was fantastic.
“So the second goal is something we work on, that kind of ball from the angle.”
“And for James Forrest to control that headbutt with so much pace on the cross for a totally emphatic finish – really, really satisfied with that.
“In general, I am satisfied with the performance, I thought we deserved more from the game, but we did not get it.
“I feel, from my point of view, that the lack of atmosphere can unconsciously have a detrimental effect, but we are adjusting as well as anyone.
“When you’re pushing, when you win a corner or a free kick, when you create opportunities, you get this intensity and the roar of the crowd, which is what we are all missing at the time.
“So you have to understand that from the players’ point of view.
“But like I said, it’s a big win, three big points and we’ve made the most of the extra game.”
The result means Celtic can rise to the top of the table against Livingston on Saturday, and the Rangers won’t be in action until the next day.
Lennon acknowledged: “This is a game we are looking forward to.
“But we know that Livingston has caused us problems in the past, so we will have a couple of days of recovery and we will concentrate on the game of the weekend.”
The scoring could have been more comfortable, but Odsonne Edouard missed the first penalty of his professional career.
After the game, Lennon was asked if there would be a debate among his players about who should hit next.
He laughed: “It hasn’t started yet, but I imagine it will last a week or two!
“To be fair to Odsonne, he’s the first to miss and I thought Zlamal had a good game tonight considering he’s only been here a week or so.
“It was a great penalty save, but we will discuss it as we move forward.”
Lennon said before the game that he would be happy if no more business is done in this window, and was asked if fans should expect more arrivals.
He replied, “I don’t know, it’s the answer.”
“I will be speaking with Nick (Hammond, Athletic Director) and Peter (Lawwell, Executive Director) for the next few days.
“But like I said, but if we don’t do more business, I’m delighted with the squad we have.”
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