Source: FOOTYMAD
Mainlining to the end of the season
Another league win and a tighter grip on the chance of Champions League football next season. Celtic interim manager Neil Lennon wants his players to get hooked on the drug that is the feeling they enjoyed when the third goal went in against Hibs yesterday. This should be the kind of feeling they want to enjoy for the remaining games in the season. Morten Rasmussen edged home Marc-Antoine Fortune's low cross in the 87th minute as the Hoops came from behind to win for the second time in five days. Hibs looked to be heading for their second win at Celtic Park of the season after Anthony Stokes scored a penalty early in the second half. However, the never say die attitude of the home side put the visitors under sustained pressure and Fortune levelled in the 80th minute before substitute Rasmussen secured a 3-2 win. Although the Active Nation Scottish Cup semi-final defeat by Ross County has cast a dark cloud over the club, Celtic have now won four consecutiveleague games since Lennon took charge, a run Tony Mowbray failed to achieve. Lennon said: "It was fantastic. We've been lacking that drive. Under Gordon (Strachan) and Martin (O'Neill) it was routine that if we were a goal down there would be a groundswell of pressure. We got that today and they have proved they can do it. I don't want to say it's the turning point but I hope they learn from that." Just as he had done after Tuesday's 2-1 victory over Motherwell, Lennon described the win as "another small step in the right direction", although the win did increase to 10 points the lead they hold over Dundee United to all but eradicate the Tayside club's hopes of sneaking a Champions League spot. Lennon said: "I thought we deserved to win. We missed too many chances and that's been symptomatic of the season. We passed the ball well, there was good movement. We created a lot of chances. The strikers held the ball up well and I thought Scott Brown was immense for the team. We stuck at it. I asked them if they could score goals in the last 10 minutes. We got a head of steam up which we haven't done for a long time, and the crowd responded to that. I was trying to make sure they didn't panic. I could see them sort of getting agitated and anxious and trying to force things and I told them just to keep playing. I wanted to give Rasmussen a run because I think he could be a goalscorer for this club and he has proved that today. He was excellent in the 20-odd minutes he was on."
