NEIL Lennon was delighted to see his side get their league campaign off to a winning start, with an Odsonne Edouard hat-trick helping the Hoops to a 5-1 win over Hamilton Accies.

The Celtic manager was pleased with the win, in what was his side’s first competitive match since March 7. They hit five that day against St Mirren and they did so again today (Sunday).

Speaking after the game, the Hoops boss said: “I thought we were a bit too passive for my liking in the first half but in the second half the team gave me everything that I wanted. There was real pace and power about us, we scored some great goals and generally we had good control of the game as well.

“To win the game as convincing as that is great because you’re going a little bit into the unknown. We’ve been out for so long in terms of competitive games and you’re going to get a bit of rust there in getting the match rhythm, but I thought in the second half in particular, we were superb.

“There were a lot of good things in the game. There are a lot of things we still need to work on and improve on, but that’s totally understandable for where we are at the minute but, in general, I’m absolutely delighted with that.”

Edouard hit 28 goals last season and he’s already up and running with a treble in the opening game, emphasising again his quality and importance to the team. His manager, not surprisingly, was delighted with the Frenchman’s contribution, while he was also pleased to see Patryk Klimala score his first competitive goal for the club after coming on as a later substitute for the hat-trick hero.

“His finishes were great because they’re a striker’s goals,” the manager said. “Sometimes you think of Odsonne scoring brilliant individual goals, but today he got across the near post on one, while the first one was a tap-in. And that’s another thing he’s adding to his game – the volume of goals as well as all-round great play, but as a team we looked vibrant, we looked strong and there was a lot of power in the team today.

“They were great deliveries for the goals. It’s something that we all work on, the combination plays, and the final ball was there, but you’ve got to be in there to score them as well. The goal where Jamesy broke down the right – he showed great pace and power, it was a great ball in and a great finish.

“What you’ve seen with Patryk is that he showed some physical power as well today, which is something he’s worked on himself. He’s hungry and he’s showed great pace to get away and it was a great finish. I’m thrilled for him, he totally deserves it and it was a great way to finish off what was a really good performance.”

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