Lennon warned Hoops of Gers threat

25 October 2010 07:47
eil Lennon warned his Celtic players at half-time in Sunday's Old Firm defeat by Rangers at Parkhead not to write off their Old Firm rivals.[LNB] The Hoops led on Sunday after Gary Hooper slammed in from close range in first-half injury time following a Ki Sung-Yueng corner.[LNB]However, Glenn Loovens' own goal three minutes in to the second half cancelled that out and ex-Celtic player Kenny Miller volleyed Rangers ahead before adding a third with a controversial penalty in the 67th minute when Daniel Majstorovic was adjudged by referee Willie Collum, making his Old Firm debut, to have brought down Rangers substitute Kirk Broadfoot.[LNB]The Hoops boss insisted he would be seeking an explanation from Collum about the penalty and why he had not handed Ibrox midfielder Lee McCulloch a second yellow card for a foul on Georgios Samaras, after he had been booked early in the game.[LNB]However, the Irishman looked closer to home for reasons behind his first Scottish Premier League defeat since taking over from Tony Mowbray in March as Rangers extended their winning run to nine games this season to take them three points clear at the top of the table.[LNB]"We said to them at half-time that Rangers might score at any time so stay in the game and stick to what you were doing in the first half," Lennon said.[LNB]"I felt we were getting better as the first half went on and then we got the goal.[LNB]"We gave them all the warnings but we invited pressure for no apparent reason whatsoever at the second goal and goals change the psychology of games although I thought the third one was a soft penalty.[LNB]"It was a bad day. There will be regrets in the dressing room and some players will feel that they didn't do themselves justice.[LNB]"Inexperienced mistakes from experienced players cost us but hopefully the players will learn, take that on board and make sure they don't make the same mistakes again."

Source: Team_Talk