IN the wake of today’s 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock at Rugby Park, Hoops boss Neil Lennon expressed frustration at a performance he described as lacking in sharpness.

Ryan Christie’s long-range free-kick fired the Hoops in front after seven minutes in Ayrshire, before Chris Burke equalised from the spot 12 minutes later. Alex Dyer’s side defended with their backs to the wall in the second period, but the Scottish champions couldn’t get the break they sought in front of goal.

“It was frustrating,” the manager told Celtic TV after the game. “We scored a great goal, we gave away a poor goal and then we had all the play in the second half, but we lacked a little bit of conviction in the final third. It wasn’t the worst performance I’ve seen from us coming here, I’m disappointed we didn’t leave with three points, but you could see that some of the players are still getting up to match speed and match sharpness.

“I understand Kilmarnock lining up the way they did, and that’s their prerogative. It’s up to us to break that down, and I think we lacked a little bit of speed of thought and speed of pass. I didn’t think we worked the goalkeeper anywhere near enough, and I thought our final ball was poor.

“In terms of dominating the game, though, we did that, and we’ve conceded a sloppy goal from our point of view. The players aren’t at their peak match sharpness yet, but that will come as we go along. We’ve got a big couple of weeks coming up now.”

Neil Lennon said he and his players now put today’s result behind them, and focus on the matches ahead – St Mirren on Wednesday, Aberdeen on Saturday, and KR Reykjavik the following week in their UEFA Champions League first round qualifier.

He added: “We don’t think any game coming up will be easy, I don’t take anything for granted. We dropped a couple of points today, which is disappointing, but we have a long way to go and the team will get better as we go. We’re looking forward to the game on Wednesday when it comes and we’re looking for a good performance.

“Reykjavik is hopefully going to be a home tie, which is all you can ask for, really. We’re looking forward to that and getting back to Celtic Park. It is hard at times without the supporters. If we look at the second half today, there were moments where the fans would have drove the team on, but we have to adapt.

“As I say, I don’t think today was a poor performance, just a bit lacking that sharpness we normally have.”

Manager: We were disappointed not to leave Killie with three points