NEIL Lennon is pleased with the way his side have started their UEFA Europa League group-stage campaign, which sees the Hoops top of Group E after two games.

Matchday one saw Celtic travel to Rennes, where a Ryan Christie penalty gave them a share of the spoils. Indeed, they were unlucky not to head home with all three points. That wasn’t the case when they played host to CFR Cluj at the start of October, as Odsonne Edouard and Mohamed Elyounoussi scored the goals in an impressive 2-0 win.

Now, matchday three brings the toughest test yet, with Italian side, Lazio, heading to Paradise this Thursday night. It’s the first part of a double-header, with Celtic facing a tough trip to Rome next month.

But ahead of the game at Celtic Park, Neil Lennon admitted that he is looking forward to the tie and hoping that home advantage will play its part.

“We’re very excited and it’s a great game for all the fans and players,” he said. “We’ve made a great start to the group, we’re playing well and are off the back of a great victory at the weekend.

“The anticipation is building for this game and it’s hopefully going to be one of those great European nights at Celtic Park.

“The performance at the weekend was as complete as I’ve had in terms of attacking and defending and all-round control of the game. The players should take a lot from that. We know this is a different animal in terms of quality.

“It’s almost like a Champions League game really with the size of the two clubs and the prestige that the two teams have. We’re very much looking forward to it and it’s a great game for our players to gain more vital European experience.”

“We’ve done well home and away this season, which has delighted me. We followed up the Rennes draw with a good performance against Cluj. We have players with European, Premier League and international experience.

“We’d love to win the game tomorrow night. That would put us in a very strong position and we’d love to qualify from the group. We’re going to have to play as well, if not better, than we have done in the first two games.”

Manager: We want to build on good Euro start with win over Lazio