CELTIC rounded off their pre-season tour of France with a 4-0 defeat to Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain this evening (Tuesday), but manager Neil Lennon said there are plenty of positives to be drawn from the performance despite the result.

The nine in-a-row champions conceded an early goal at the hands of French hitman Kylian Mbappe at the Parc des Princes, but as the game opened up, the Hoops begun to impress with a more familiar style of attacking football.

Still, PSG were clinical throughout and wasted few chances in front of goal. Christopher Jullien hit the post with a header on 38 minutes, before second half substitute James Forrest tested the PSG goalkeeper late in the game, but even a consolation goal was not to be for the Irishman’s men.

“We were playing against a world-class side,” Neil Lennon told Celtic TV after the game. “We didn’t get off to the best of starts, but I thought after that, for about 30-35 minutes, we were a match and we played some really good football. I’m so disappointed we didn’t get a goal because I thought our play deserved one.

“But that’s as stiff an examination as you’re going to get, so in terms of a working exercise on the physical side of the game, the mental side and the concentration side of it, that’s as good as it gets. I’m really pleased with a lot of aspects of the game.”

The manager stressed that Scott Brown was rested as a precautionary measure, and said he’s certain his players will benefit from going toe-to-toe with one of world football’s best teams.

He added: “It was really tough for the players, and then PSG changed their full team at half-time. I think some of our players needed the game.

“The players have only really had one full game going into this one, so I think they’ll benefit from it. It’s a been a terrific quality of teams that we’ve played over the last four or five days and I think that’ll stand us in good stead going forward.”

Manager: Positives can be drawn from defeat to world-class side