CELTIC captain Scott Brown has leapt to the defence of under-fire manager Neil Lennon - insisting that the players must accept responsibility for the club's poor form.

The Premiership champions suffered a 4-1 defeat to Sparta Prague at Parkhead last night - their third successive home defeat in all competitons - leading Lennon to blame his players for their below-par showing.

Brown readily accepts that he and his team-mates have not been playing well enough lately - and called for fans to point the finger of blame at them and not Lennon.

He said: "The pressure should be on the players, not the manager. The manager has been fantastic for us from when he first came in.

“It’s about the players on the park and we need to take responsibility.

“You look at the performance against Aberdeen on Sunday. We were very good but very sloppy today.

"I would love to put my finger on it and tell you what it was but we need to make sure we are better all over the park – we work harder, we fight more, we create more chances and defend better as a team.

“For us, today’s performance was nowhere near the standard set at this club and especially over the last 13 years I have been here. It’s not acceptable.

“We’ve got to be strong now. This is where character come through.

“We know we have quality players who can perform, we just need to make sure we do it week in, week out.

“We can’t have lapses now and then. We need to be focused and giving everything on the park as a minimum.”