Tense Lennon breathes easy again

Thursday 9 August 2012

A massive weight was lifted from Neil Lennon's shoulders last night after Celtic beat HJK Helsinki at the Sonera Stadium.

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Goals after the break from Joe Ledley and Georgios Samaras took his side into the Champions League play-offs with a 4-1 aggregate success, guaranteeing at least a place in the group stages of the Europa League.

It was a rare and meaningful victory for Celtic on their travels and welcomed by Lennon. "Yes, it was important, just for my own sanity," said the manager. "I have been agonising over this tie for a long, long time, probably since we picked up the [league] trophy in May. I have been in a wee bubble for the last six or seven weeks so it s big relief for myself and a big release of pressure."It was a really tough tie. The first goal was huge, if it had gone to HJK it would have given them a massive lift but on the balance of the game, we were the far superior team."Psychologically for me, it is big because I haven't got through the last couple of years but we have built a good team here and they delivered tonight and answered a lot of questions."I am thrilled, absolutely thrilled for the players, the backroom team, the supporters and the club. It is a step in the right direction. We weathered the storm after the break and scored two wonderful goals so I could not be more proud of the players. We will see what the draw brings. We're not getting carried away but this will give the players a huge shot in the arm."The midfielder Victor Wanyama was sent off in the second half with the score at 1-0 after picking up a second yellow card while Brown, Kris Commons, Charlie Mulgrew and Biram Kayal also found themselves in the Austrian referee Robert Schorgenhofer's book.Lennon was unhappy with the official: "To say the referee was inconsistent is an understatement. I am not going to go any further than that but it seems they play a different game on the continent than we do in Britain."Ledley, who opened the scoring, also welcomed an extended stay in Europe. "The Champions League is the best club competition you can play in. You can't ask any more than that but at least if that doesn't happen we have the Europa League group stage at the very least. We had a good run last season and we're just happy to have European football again this season."It was a massive result. It guarantees us eight more games in Europe this season. We hadn't won away from home for a while now and I think we deserved that victory, everyone worked their socks off for it." Reaching the Champions League group would generate around £15m but Ledley said the team could compete even if Lennon wasn't given any of that to spend. "That's obviously down to the gaffer. But I think we're happy with the team, it's a fantastic team. "

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Tense Lennon breathes easy again

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