SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE:NEIL LENNON admits his Celtic side missed the sparkle of James Forrest against Dundee United at Parkhead on Saturday despite returning to the top of the table with a 2-1 win.

The Scotland winger has arguably been Celtic’s best player this season but was sidelined after being unable to shrug off a virus.

First-half goals by Southampton target Gary Hooper and midfielder Victor Wanyama gave the home side a comfortable interval lead. But United midfielder John Rankin pulled a goal back five minutes after the break to ensure a nervy second period where Forrest may have been the man to ease the tension.

“You can see how much we do miss him,” said Lennon, who, nevertheless, was pleased by his team’s overall performance.

“We had no natural winger in the team and with Kris Commons just coming back from injury we went with Georgios Samaras on the left. It worked okay in the first half but you do miss James’ pace and ability on the counter-attack at times and his final ball.”

Meanwhile, Stand-in captain Steven Davis believes Nikica Jelavic showed once again why Rangers must hold onto him beyond January after he grabbed a double in the 2-1 win over St Johnstone, which kicked off at 12.30pm.

The Croatian striker has been the subject of intense speculation over his future and has been linked with a number of English Premier League clubs.

Manager Ally McCoist confirmed on Friday that Rangers have yet to receive any inquiries or bids this month for Jelavic before he returned to top form with a brace at McDiarmid Park.

Davis said: “The good thing about Jela is that he can score a mixture of goals and he got two poacher’s goals in this game.

“There’s been a lot written in terms of what he wants to do but he showed he’s got a desire to still do well for Rangers so hopefully the club can keep hold of him.”