NEIL Lennon was delighted to be back at Paradise today (Friday) and he, like everyone else, is hoping that when competitive football does resume at the start of August, it won’t be too long before supporters are also back at Celtic Park.

From the games he’s watched on TV from Germany and England, fans are ‘the missing ingredient’ that leave matches devoid of the excitement normally associated with football.

It is one of the many things that professional clubs are having to adjust to, and the Celtic manager is also acutely aware of the financial difficulties that the coronavirus crisis and the lockdown are causing to the game on an ongoing basis.

“It’s imperative that we try and get the sport, particularly in this country, up and running again, and the club and some of the staff behind the scenes are at the forefront of that,” Neil Lennon said.

“Celtic, as a club, are not immune to the financial damage that it’s done to, not only the sporting arena but also the social and cultural as well. So we have to cut our cloth accordingly. It’s not going to be easy.

“Financially, it’s certainly had an impact on the club, no question of that. The longer it goes on the more it eats away and we’re not immune to the financial crisis which has befell everyone.”

The 2020/21 Scottish football season is due to get underway at the start of August, while the Hoops face a series of Champions League qualifiers in the same month.

And while the manager and his squad are looking forward to the resumption of competitive football, they want the fans back in the stadiums are soon as possible too.

The safety of supporters will always be the number one priority for everyone at Celtic, but the Irishman is looking forward to when the fans will be able to cheer on the team from the stands.

“In an ideal world, we’d love to get crowds back into the stadium sooner rather than later,” said Neil Lennon. “Everything’s moving in the right direction and we’re trying to stay as positive as possible on that.

“We’d love to be playing in front of supporters. Watching the games, whether that be in Germany or England, it’s just not the same but understandably, it’s good to see football back, not as we know it, but in some sort of shape or form.

“Ideally, though, going forward we want crowds in. It’s important for a club like us to have that support and there’s a huge motivation going into this season.”

Neil Lennon: We’re not immune to the financial crisis