Lennon relieved to take win

08 August 2011 07:00

Celtic manager Neil Lennon felt his team overplayed in the final third before Anthony Stokes earned them a Clydesdale Bank Premier League victory at Aberdeen.

Celtic struggled to create a clear opening before right winger Kris Commons dispossessed Richard Foster and set up Stokes to sweep home the only goal from 10 yards in the 74th minute.

"We made it nervous for ourselves because we had so many chances and our decision-making on the final bit was poor," said Lennon.

"We worked the ball great, kept getting in between their midfield and back four and then we tried to walk the ball in the net at times.

"It's a bad habit to have and we have to get out of it. I said at half-time we needed to be patient, we would take 1-0 and that happened to be the case.

"But I felt our play deserved better, overall we were very, very good."

Lennon, who lost left-back Emilio Izaguirre to a broken leg in the first half, added: "I didn't think we toiled, we were just wasteful in the final third.

"We worked the ball to Kris in good positions on numerous occasions and we kept failing.

"But we kept going and Kris is always a threat and he did brilliantly for the goal."

Lennon claimed his players were guilty of over-elaborating in training too but he added: "I'm not overly concerned, we always felt we would score with the players we have in the team."

Source: PA