Lennon steps up centre half search
During the close season Daniel Majstorovic, Glenn Loovens and Darren O’Dea all left the club while Jaroslav Fojut’s proposed transfer was canceled after the Pole suffered a serious knee injury.
Charlie Mulgrew, Kelvin Wilson and Thomas Rogne played in the first two matches of the pre-season tour of Germany with Victor Wanyama making his return in last night’s 2-1 win over Vfb Aalen.
Lennon was delighted by the performance of Wanyama but would like to sign up a centre half ahead of the third qualifying round of the Champions League in a fortnight’s time.
“Victor was tremendous and he is a great example to the other players,” the hoops boss stated.
“We are going into a level where we need to be really well conditioned, particularly away from home.
“We are going to have to play strongly without the ball. Victor can play at the back or in midfield, depending on the opposition but we are still short of a centre-half. You can see that.
“If we get an injury to Rogne, Wilson or Mulgrew, we only have three recognised central defenders at the minute and obviously it is another priority to try to bring one in quickly.”
Second half goals from Gary Hooper and Anthony Stokes earned Celtic their first win of the season against the third division club.
Adam Matthews and Emilio Izaguirre failed to play in any of the German matches but Lennon is hopeful that his first choice full-backs will be able to play at some stage of Saturday’s match against Ajax.
Tony Watt, Lewis Toshney, Andre Blackman and Rabui Ibrahim have returned to Scotland and will feature for the development squad in the weekend tourament staged by Partick Thistle.
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