NEIL Lennon hailed his players to a man after today’s (Sunday) comprehensive 4-1 win over Motherwell at Fir Park, in a victory he described as the right response to a disappointing Euro result in midweek.

The manager praised everything from body language to work-rate and the nature in which the goals came in North Lanarkshire, as he now prepares to let his players go for the latest international break.

“We were outstanding today and that was far more like the performance we, not expect, but want from them,” said Neil Lennon in an exclusive interview with Celtic TV after the game. “We know we let ourselves down on Thursday and they’ve responded in the right way, so that’s a good barometer for where we want to be.

“It’s far more like us – we played with better body language, a better work-rate, we had quality in our goals, quality in our play, and we could have won the game by more. If Ryan scores that goal before half-time, you’re probably talking about that as goal of the season, and Tom Rogic was magnificent in the build-up. I think that was a real summation of how we played today, there was a real intent there.”

Neil Lennon said he and his players were “rightly criticised” for their performance in midweek, but was delighted to see his players return with swagger this afternoon, in a match which saw Mohamed Elyounoussi score three – hitting 11 goals for the season so far – and Olivier Ntcham net his first of the 2020/21 campaign.

The manager added: “We were rightly criticised for Thursday night, we know that’s unacceptable, and they’ve responded the only way they know how. Every one of them out there today worked really hard for each other.

“We were far better connected, but even when we conceded a goal, the reaction to that was great. The substitutes made a great difference when we needed to freshen things up. It’s been a good day.

“That’s a brilliant return from Moi. We said to him at half-time: you should have got your hat-trick in Lille, and it was a brilliant header. Hatem really drove down that side and it was a great ball in, and Moi rose brilliantly to score. I’m very happy for Ollie getting his goal as well, that’s him up and running.

“The whole team, Broony, Cal, they all dominated in there for long periods. We’re a little bit short of depth in the wider areas, but the shift that Christie and Elyounoussi put in for the team today was magnificent.

“We’re not getting carried away, and we’re not getting too down about Thursday. We know that’s not us, but we don’t get too high after games like today either. But that is more like us, and that’s what I want from the team going forward.”

Neil Lennon hails players' response after Motherwell win