It’s not often that Kris Ajer costs his side a goal- Neil Lennon reckons it’s a 1 in 500 game occurrence!
The 21-year-old was at fault last night as he conceded a penalty to Rennes with his reaction afterwards telling it’s own story. There was no getting away from it, it was as clear a penalty as you’ll see since Leigh Griffiths aimed a header at the Inverness Caley Thistle goal at Hampden in 2015.
When M’Baye Niang converted from the penalty spot it would have been easy for Ajer to experience that sinking feeling but he stood firm through the second half as his pal Ryan Christie bailed him out with an equaliser.
At 5 minutes 40 seconds Lennon said:
I will touch on Ajer, that is probably one mistake in 500 games. He’s been absolutely outstanding and again he went on to play a really great game despite maybe being disappointed by his contribution in that moment.
The match in Rennes was Ajer’s second game back after suffering a groin strain in the early stages of the 4-1 win away to AIK of Sweden.
With Jozo Simunovic and Nir Bitton both likely to be unavailable until next month Lennon’s only other central defensive option is to bring in Hatem Abd Elhamed and play Moritz Bauer at right-back.