NEIL LENNON says Ronny Deila has his full sympathy and believes the Celtic manager deserves at least one more chance to get the club into the Champions League.

Lennon's former side crashed out of the competition on Tuesday night at the hands of Malmo and that was another disappointment for the Norwegian after losing last summer to Legia Warsaw and Maribor, defeats that have cost in excess of £25m in revenue.

When Lennon was appointed Parkhead manager in 2010, it took him two years to get into the Champions League and he went on to have successful nights against Barcelona after building a team with Fraser Forster, Victor Wanyama and Gary Hooper at the heart of it all.

He has no doubt that Deila also has to be allowed more time to develop and improve the current squad.

Speaking yesterday at the Macron Stadium, the Bolton Wanderers manager said: “The qualifiers are notoriously tough. They are the hardest games and the most important games. I felt they were hard done by in terms of the disallowed goal. It was clearly a handball by the Malmo player. That helped sway the tie towards Malmo. The second goal Malmo scored at Celtic also gave them a psychological lift.

“I have sympathy for Ronny, of course I do. I remember from my time as Celtic manager that every year from April your whole focus is geared towards the Champions League qualifiers. I’m sure it’s been the same for Ronny. You try to get pre-season plans right and it all has to be done in such a short period. It makes for a very, very tough ask.

“Listen, I know that after a defeat the magnitude of the other night, hysteria follows it. It’s always the case. You've just got to take a step back from it and try to evaluate where it went wrong.

“He deserves another chance. He has only been in the job a year. The Celtic board don’t go in for knee-jerk decisions. So, yeah, he deserves at least another season at it.

“Celtic looked the classier team and what will have been most disappointing was losing goals from set-pieces as it’s not like Celtic to do that.

“I also feel for the players and the supporters. I want to see players I know very well such as Scott Brown and Charlie Mulgrew getting back into the Champions League. I feel for everyone. The club is geared for the Champions League.”

The next hurdle Deila will have to overcome will be coping with the loss of Virgil van Dijk. The Dutch defender looks certain to move to either Southampton, Everton, Norwich or Sunderland for £11m before the transfer window closes on Tuesday.

Again, Lennon knows all too well the difficulties in trying to replace such quality when you have limited finds to do so. Unearthing gems of the quality of van Dijk’s and Wanyama’s of this world, only happens occasionally. It should never be taken for granted.

Lennon signed van Dijk from FC Groningen for £2m and takes a lot of pride in helping to turn the Dutch defender into someone valued at more than five times the fee.

Lennon said: “Virgil will absolutely thrive in the Premier League. He has been a quality player at Champions League level and proved that for Celtic. If he goes to England he won’t have many problems adapting.”