Soccer

Lennon pleased with battling victory

Celtic 1 Aberdeen 0: Neil Lennon admitted his side were far from their best despite a victory over Aberdeen in their first Scottish…

Sat Aug 04 2012 - 01:00

Celtic 1 Aberdeen 0:Neil Lennon admitted his side were far from their best despite a victory over Aberdeen in their first Scottish Premier League encounter of the season.

Kris Commons struck the winner with 11 minutes left but the Hoops struggled to create chances against the Dons at Parkhead.

And Lennon believes their midweek Champions League qualifying encounter against HJK Helsinki may have been a factor in their below-par showing.

“You never know but we looked a bit leggy today,” he said. “It’s understandable after Wednesday and it took a lot more out of the players than what we thought.

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“I’m really pleased with the win because these opening games can be unpredictable. We controlled the majority of the game. We lacked a bit going forward at times and we got a bit of luck with the goal.”

It was a moment for Aberdeen goalkeeper Jamie Langfield to forget as he let a tame Commons effort from the edge of the area creep in at his near post.

“I was aiming for the back stick hoping for a deflection,” the goalscorer said. “I don’t think the keeper was on his toes to deal with anything at the near post but we will take it.

“We were plugging away and their goalkeeper was a lot busier. We had the majority of possession but it was one hell of a tough game.

“It was a bit muggy and a bit warm and there were a lot of tired legs. We would have liked to play a bit better and we were not as free-flowing as we would like, but three points is three points.”

Scott Brown and James Forrest sat out the game after failing fitness tests for hip and groin injuries respectively,

while Georgios Samaras was replaced at half-time after he was caught by a flying boot from Aberdeen defender Ryan Jack.

However Lennon is confident they will all recover to take part in Wednesday’s second leg against Helsinki in Finland.

“We are hoping all three will be fit,” he said. “Georgi got a cut mouth and a cut nose and he was feeling groggy at half-time.

“He wanted to give it 10 minutes but he was feeling a bit dizzy and we didn’t want to give it a chance. (Leaving out) Scott and James was precautionary.”