NEIL Lennon last night revealed that he feared Scott Brown could have been seriously hurt by Marcel Langer’s shocking late challenge on the Celtic captain.

Hearts midfielder Langer received a straight red card from referee Willie Collum after he scythed down Brown at the end of the Tynecastle club’s 5-0 defeat at Parkhead.

Lennon confirmed that the central midfielder was unharmed – but he praised Collum for his decision to order off the visitors’ substitute.

The Herald:

“The referee got the red right because that was horrendous and could have done serious damage to Scott,” he said. “Thankfully he’s alright.”

Lennon was delighted with Celtic’s all-round performance and the fact that no fewer than five different players – Olivier Ntcham, Christopher Jullien, Callum McGregor, Ryan Christie and Jozo Simunovic – all got on the scoresheet.

The quintet’s strikes sent the treble treble winners 10 points clear at the top of the Premiership and boosted their chances of winning their ninth consecutive Premiership title come May.

The Herald:

“It’s quite incredible when you consider the form they’ve been in,” he said. “That pleases me. Hearts tried to press and it was interesting coming up against that tactic. We changed the shape a bit second half and got some goals.”

The Northern Irishman has paired strikers Odsonne Edouard and Leigh Griffiths up front together since play resumed after the winter shutdown and been pleased with how the duo have dovetailed.

However, he joked the French and Scottish centre forwards would be smarting that they hadn’t managed to get their names on the scoresheet.

“To score five and for your strikers not to score is unbelievable,” he said. “They’ (Edouard and Griffiths) will probably be down there with petted lips because they love scoring. Seriously, though, it’s a great team effort.”