Neil Lennon was delighted to see Stan Petrov in good spirits after visiting his former team-mate in hospital earlier this week.
Three days after celebrating Celtic’s title success at Kilmarnock the former Celtic team-mates met up in London where Petrov is being treated for acute leukaemia.
Two weeks ago the world of football was shocked by the news of Petrov’s condition but after visiting London Lennon was pleased to see that the Bulgarian is in good spirits
“Stiliyan was great,” Lennon told the Daily Record. “He was very positive and has been well prepared by the people down there for what lies ahead. He is in for a tough few weeks but he is very upbeat and he got good news with the fact they caught it early.
“He is in the best hands. The person dealing with him, Professor Lynch, is probably the best in his field and has him well briefed.”
News of Petrov’s illness came as a total shock to Lennon who recalled: “He rang Roddy MacDonald, our club doctor, on the Friday morning. We were training and Roddy pulled us over later.
“We were close to tears but having seen Stan and spoken with him, seen his spirit and his positivity, we left in good form.
“We talked about football, about Villa and about Celtic. We talked about the years we had under Martin O’Neill and it was all fun. We went through a lot of special times together and you forge a bond.
“Stiliyan was a huge part of the team that got to Seville and had a great couple of years after that before going on to have a great career at Villa.
He is part of a very special team that is part of Celtic history but it is a difficult thing to contend with. It’s okay us going to see him but Stiliyan has to go on and deal with this himself and we are very proud of him.
“He has been overwhelmed with the support he’s had, not just from the Celtic fans and the club but from the length and breadth of the country, football fans or not.”
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