NEIL Lennon feels that the international break will give some of his players a well-earned rest ahead of a packed run of fixtures in the lead up to the winter break and hinted he will look at utilising more of the squad to help manage the difficult workload.

Celtic rounded off an incredible run of games on Sunday with a 2-0 win over Motherwell to remain top of the Scottish Premiership before the league paused for the upcoming international fixtures.

Neil Lennon’s side have won all eight of their games since the previous international break, including wins over Lazio home and away and a semi-final League Cup victory over Hibernian.

The Hoops manager said the pause in action would allow him and his players to reflect on their recent successes, but added the interruption was frustrating given the form of the team and the packed schedule they will return to.

“Now we take stock and I think some of them need the break because it’s been a really heavy load of games for everyone,” said Neil Lennon. “The international boys will hopefully come back fit and healthy. For some of them the break will do them the world of good and we can revamp them again and get ready for the next round of games.

“It’s good to take stock but it’s not ideal. We’ll have a look at things we can improve on if we can but in the main I’m delighted by the quality and consistency of the performances.”

“The break is frustrating because then you’re coming back to a heavy load of games. It’s something we need to have a look at going forward. The amount of games the big clubs play and then these guys have to play with their international teams as well so it’s a big ask.”

Celtic return to action on November 23 for their first of 11 games in five weeks leading up to the January winter break. the manager said the number of games would be difficult to manage and suggested he would need to use his entire squad to successfully navigate the five weeks.

“When we come back we’ll have a couple of games this month and then we have nine games in December,” he said. “It’s a huge ask and then we have a break in January, which will be welcome.

“We can rest and recover the ones who don’t go away this week and then maybe use them in the initial stages more when we go into the big block of games in December.

“Leigh Griffiths has a development game next week and we’ll see how he comes through that and we’ll take it from there. We want him up to speed and he’s not at the level we want him at. He has to do the work in the next two weeks. He has an opportunity now with Bayo being out to stake a claim for a place in the squad.”

Neil Lennon: We'll need all the Bhoys for crucial period of games