Celtic boss Neil Lennon was delighted to see Emilio Izaguirre make his top team return- even if it could cost the hoops boss a few white hairs!
The Honduran left-back made his first appearance in five months during the 3-0 win away to Dunfermline and was given a heroes reception by the travelling support.
At one stage in his 11 minute appearance Izaguirre tried to dribble the ball out of his own six yard box but with the points secure Lennon was happy to overlook that incident.
“It’s been a long slog for him,” the Celtic boss admitted. “We were in a comfortable position where we were able to bring him on.
“There’s another bounce game tomorrow which he’ll play in and we’ll see how he is after that but even in that 10-minute cameo you could see him wanting to get forward.
“He even brought the ball down in his own box and tried to take the centre-forward on, which absolutely delighted me. So I’m in for a few white hairs over the next couple of months.”
The 3-0 win consolidated Celtic’s lead at the top of the table over Rangers but with the experiences of last season still fresh Lennon won’t be taking anything for granted.
He added: “You can drop points at any time but we just made sure the application was right,” he said. “We started really well, on the front foot.
“We could have passed it better but it was difficult to do that at the pace we want to play.
“Defensively we played very well, the full-backs played well and Samaras and Stokes in particular were very, very good going forward.”
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Great victory and once again the fans where 1st class the paddy mccourt song was awesome hail hail A JUST CAN’T ENOUGH
I was just thinking,if the winter break was still in place, we would be off on a 3 week break now.
Would this be a good thing right now, or would it upset momentum?
I have always been in favour of the break, but right now I think it’s best to play, keep winning, and keep the momentum going.
Welcome back Izzy like a new signing at this time of the season.
With Izzy on one side and Matthews on the other all looks well.
great win, great to see Izzy back keep it up Bhoys nice and easy one game at a time gotta cup game next week let’s think of that first before league games let’s walk before running that’s how championships and great teams are won and born
Absolutely delighted for Lennon. I felt he should have re-signed in November as there was no way back for Celtic. Just shows you that 40 years watching football teaches you bloody nothing!
Now would be a great time for Lawwell et al to back the manager. Give the manager what he wants a quality CB and another quality forward. This would be a great boost for Lennon, the team and the supporters. A sign that the guys at the top share the same desire as the rest of us. It would also increase the fear at Ibrox as they look certain to be weakened.
Briliant to see Izzy back and next Sunday may be a good opportunity to start him, even if he only plays for an hour. However, some big Highland lad may delight in making a name for himself with a few tasty tackles on him.