Neil Lennon waxed lyrical about skipper Scott Brown after Celtic's 4-0 demolition of Hearts at Parkhead.
The home side put a dent in any notions the third-placed Jambos have of challenging for the Clydesdale Bank Premier League title with a powerful performance which included an Anthony Stokes double in between a James Forrest opener and a late strike from Paddy McCourt, who had come on as a substitute for the winger.
Amid general delight about the performance, Hoops boss Lennon singled out Brown, who was prompting from wide on the right, for special praise. "I thought Scott Brown was awesome," he said. "Certain journalists seem to have it in for him but he was fantastic from start to finish."
Lennon added: "He started the game brilliantly for us, got us playing, got us going and you could see everything that was good about his game. I thought he was a real leader and that's why he is captain.
Celtic remain five points clear of Old Firm rivals Rangers at the top of the table, albeit having played two games more than the Ibrox men, and 10 ahead of the Gorgie club. Lennon insisted all the pre-match talk about Hearts challenging the Old Firm helped inspire his players.
Jim Jefferies' side, who beat the Hoops 2-0 at Tynecastle in November, travelled to Glasgow unbeaten in 11 league games and in buoyant mood but now look to be out of the running.
Lennon, who admitted Derby winger Kris Commons was "an option" for him with regard to potential signings, said: "I thought a lot of the talk going in to the game was about Hearts.
"There has been a lot of negativity about our team this season.
"Even after we won 1-0 at the weekend (against Aberdeen) nobody spoke about the goal, they just talked about the negativity, about losing Daniel Majstorovic to injury and the last 15 minutes being frantic.
"All the talk was about Hearts so we used that as a motivation as well."
Source: PA
