WHEN Celtic manager Neil Lennon says that Cluj will be coming up against a very different beast when they arrive back in Glasgow this week to the team they skittled out of Champions League qualifying, he doesn’t just mean that his side’s thirst for revenge will give them an extra edge. The difference to the nuts and bolts of his defence in particular should ensure the welcome mat isn’t laid out in such hospitable fashion this time around.
Since that hugely disappointing evening at Celtic Park, Lennon’s side have gone 10 matches unbeaten, winning eight and drawing just twice, away to Stade Rennais in their Europa League opener and yesterday at Hibernian. It is little wonder that the Celtic manager is confident of atoning for their one blip so far this term on Thursday evening. And one thing that is for sure, is that Callum McGregor will be nowhere near the left-back position.
“I think we’ve improved slowly but surely,” Lennon said. “There are still goals in us but defensively we have more depth now. And at goalkeeper we’ve got more depth as well. They’ll have to play well to beat us. If we can get to the levels we know we can get to it’s going to take a good team to stop us.
“It will be a different defence from last time. Jozo (Simunovic) won’t be there and Callum won’t play at left-back. And it will be Fraser (Forster) or Craig (Gordon) in goal with (Scott) Bain being out. “Hatem (Elhamed) or Kris (Ajer) might start the game but we’ll assess that. And the likes of (Boli) Bolingoli, (Christopher) Jullien and (Moritz) Bauer have all come in and started to show how good they are.
“The game takes care of itself in terms of motivation. And they’re a good side. They’ve been underestimated by a lot of people, but they got a great result against Lazio in the last round of games.
“They changed their style of play a little bit in the second half against Lazio so they can be flexible in how they play as well. But we’re at home and if we are to proceed through the group it’s important to win your home games.
“I’m looking forward to another big European game under the lights. It’s something we can all savour. And there’s maybe a wee extra bit of an edge there for the players with what happened previously.”
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