Neil Lennon looks for Ki boost

Neil Lennon is hoping to see the benefits of Ki Sung Yeung’s World Cup experience when the midfield rejoins Celtic later this month.

The 22-year-old played in all four of South Korea’s World Cup matches and looked at home up against some of the best players in the world.

Ki only came to Celtic in January with Lennon looking to get the best out of the former FC Seoul man when the new season kicks off.

“He only came in to the club in January and we’re hoping that he has a big season coming up,” Lennon admitted. “He’s only 22, he’s played in the World Cup, he played very well and hopefully that confidence will allow him to hit the ground running.

“I’m delighted for him that he had a good World Cup, he’s still a young man and we’re pleased with him.

“He came to us from a totally different football culture and it’s understandable that he never a big impact. Naka (Shunsuke Nakamura) was different, he had experienced playing in Italy and came in at the start of the season and was able to bed himself in.”

Like most fans Lennon has been unimpressed by the World Cup and is hoping that the quarter-finals of the competition will make for better viewing.

The big names have still to make their mark, or been knocked out, but the new Celtic boss is looking forward to the big clashes between Holland-Brazil and Argentina-Germany.

Lennon added: “I’ve watched the majority of the matches and it hasn’t been great, the knock-out stage has started and the games seem to be opening up a bit more.

“A lot of the group games were cagey, teams didn’t want to get beat but the cream usually rises to the top and we’re seeing the quality teams coming to the fore.

“I enjoyed watching Spain against Portugal, Argentina have been good to watch and obviously Germany beating England was a decent result too.”

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