Neil Lennon believes that Celtic can cope without the suspended Victor Wanyama when they face Spartak Moscow tonight.
Wanyama’s reputation has grown game by game in the Champions League with his performances against Barcelona noted by clubs all over Europe.
A late booking against Benfica means that he’ll miss tonight’s match due to suspension but Lennon is confident that he has the players to step in and take the club to victory.
“Scott Brown loves these nights and played brilliantly in the first couple of games in the group,” the Celtic boss said. “He is more like 100 per cent fit now, he has felt a lot better with the injury now.
“I don’t know if the cortisone has started to really work. It takes a while for that to really kick in.
“Maybe it is settling in now and he is a lot freer. So having him back is great, while Beram Kayal is starting to show his best form again and Joe Ledley had a break over the weekend and he should be ready.
“So we should still have a pretty strong midfield, though Wanyama is a loss, no doubt about that.”
Spartak are playing for pride and prize money but with director of football Valery Karpin back in charge of the team Lennon is wary of the Russian threat.
“Karpin has been around the place for a few years,” the Celtic boss added. “He knows the players and probably had a hand in bringing the majority of them in. I don’t know what personnel they are going to use.
“I watched their last league game, when they lost 4-2 to Zenit St Petersburg, and they had a couple of players sent off. It was a typical Spartak performance, going forward they were very good, but they looked a bit vulnerable at the back.
“He [Karpin] will be looking to come and spoil our evening and get some sort of pride back for their own club. That in itself is dangerous. But we have more to play for. I think we need it more than Spartak do and sometimes that can take you a long way.”
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