A WELL-EARNED point in Rennes, and two confident home wins against CFR Cluj and Lazio have put Celtic top of Group E in the UEFA Europa League. Neil Lennon expects a tough game at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome tomorrow night (Thursday), but said his side are deserving of all seven points so far.

Still, the Irishman takes nothing for granted with three games of their group-stage journey still to play.

“We currently top the group, but know that can change very quickly,” said the Celtic manager. “We are here to try and get a positive result and there’s a great belief about us.

“The way we’ve played we deserve to be first in the group. We’ve taken maximum points at home and had a great result in France. We are top of the group and we want to try reinforce that position as the campaign goes on.

“The danger player and in-form player in Italy is Ciro Immobile. He’s in superb goalscoring form. We are aware of these players in currently really good form from an attacking point of view, and if Immobile doesn’t play they have great strength and depth to hurt any team."

The Celtic manager also expressed his delight at the news today that Callum McGregor has signed a new five-year deal, which will see him remain at the club until at least the summer of 2024.

“Callum has been absolutely sensational in the last few seasons in terms of consistency, level of performance, game intelligence, and robustness," Neil Lennon said. "We knew the calibre of player he is, and that they’ll be suiters for him, so I’m delighted the board backed me and gave Cal the contract he deserves.

"Hopefully he can now settle and keep writing history. He’s 26 and his best performances, I think, are yet to come and he’ll be hugely important for us tomorrow night.

“In the context of the group, it’s such an important game. With the two teams on show, there’s so much quality in the sides. It’s my first time in Rome taking the team, so it’s very special. It’s a game we are very excited about and motivated for.”

Neil Lennon: We are worthy of Europa group stage top-spot