NEIL Lennon knows a thing or two about central defenders. It was the Irishman, after all, who brought Virgil van Dijk to Celtic back in 2013.

Now the Dutch defender, a mainstay of the current Liverpool team, is among the nominees for the prestigious Ballon d’Or award and is, according to the Celtic manager, ‘the benchmark for all centre-halves in the world at the minute.’

One of those central defenders using van Dijk as an inspiration and striving to keep improving is Christopher Jullien. The French defender, who joined Celtic in the summer from Toulouse, is continuing to impress with each game, and he hit the headlines on Thursday night with a dramatic late winner against Lazio.

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s away game against Aberdeen, the Hoops boss praised the 26-year-old defender for his attitude and application since joining the club.

“At his age, Christopher’s got his best years in front of him now,” Neil Lennon said. “I think that, since he’s come in and settled, he’s been absolutely outstanding.

“There’ s no doubt he can improve and he can take his game on – and there is that willingness to do that. His professionalism is fantastic and his attitude since he’s come in through the door has been brilliant, as has this will to win.

“He has to control his emotions sometimes, but over the piece, he’s been immense and I thought he was outstanding against Lazio. That goal and that performance should give him a real shot in the arm going forward.”

Jullien’s headed goal in the 89th minute from a Ryan Christie corner gave Celtic a 2-1 win over Lazio and ensured they remain top of their Europa League group at the halfway stage. And the set-piece goal delighted his manager.

“It’s all about the delivery really, and if you can hit the right areas, Christopher will go and get on the end of things,” the Celtic manager said. “He’s got that power and leap, and we’ve seen that already.

“He’s been getting a bit of a ribbing from the boys about the ones that he’s missed, but he came up with a great moment, and it was a perfect ball in from Ryan.

“At times, our deliveries haven’t been great and that’s something we’ve been working on all the time, but we’ve scored a few now from set-plays and that’s down to the work the players have done with Damien and John behind the scenes.

“They got their rewards on Thursday night and it’s such an important facet of the game.”

Manager's praise for his Euro goalscoring hero