NEIL Lennon has waited almost five months to see his players in action, and the Celtic manager was delighted with the display as Celtic drew 1-1 with Nice in their opening Veolia Trophy game at the Groupama Stadium in Lyon.

Patryk Klimala’s second half goal cancelled out the French side’s first-half opener, and the Hoops boss praised his players’ performance, admitting that it had surprised him how well they had played, given the lengthy absence.

“I thought in the first half we were outstanding at times, considering we hadn’t played for almost five months," he told Celtic TV after the game.

“Technically, physically, tactically, the players were really on it. With a bit of luck, we could have won the game comfortably, so that’s a great start, and it’s testament to the work the players have been doing over the past few weeks.”

Celtic started the game strongly and had the ball in the back of the net after just four minutes when Odsonne Edouard latched on to a ball inside the area, rounded the Nice goalkeeper and slotted the ball home.

However, VAR subsequently ruled the goal out, claiming that Ryan Christie had got the last touch of the ball in knocking it into Edouard’s path., though the Celtic manager wasn’t convinced that it was the correct decision.

“It was just the culmination of a great start by us because we looked really threatening,” the Irishman said. “With a bit more care in the final third, which will come, we carved out some great openings and looked really strong on the counter-attack, and obviously Ryan had a great chance one-on-one.

“I’m disappointed with their goal but, look, you’re not going to get everything right in the first game back, so hopefully that’s a good marker for us for the rest of this trip in France.”

Celtic’s goal came on 73 minutes, with Klimala, who had come on after an hour as Neil Lennon replaced his entire starting XI, closing down the Nice goalkeeper, dispossessing him and slotting the ball home. That pleased his manager, who praised the Polish striker's pressing game in the half-hour he was on the park.

“He’s a work in progress and it’s a different style of football from what he was used to in Poland, a different culture, but his attitude is brilliant and he’s hungry to do well,” said Neil Lennon. “Over the piece he will contribute really well. I’m pleased with Soro’s improvement as well, and the rest of the core group I’m delighted with because they were very, very good today.

“We want to have good back-up and we want people banging on the door to get it. It’s not exactly competition but what I want is me being able to have the ability to say, ‘Right, you’re in today,’ and it’s a seamless transition.

“That’s what we’re aiming for and we’re obviously looking to bring a few more players in as we go along, but I was happy with the squad in the main and getting Moi (Elyounoussi) over the line was a great bit of business from us because there’s continuity there as we go forward. But the core group who are here, I’m very pleased with.”

Neil Lennon: I'm delighted with our performance in first game back