CELTIC manager Neil Lennon has savaged his players for their 'lazy' defending after watching his side drop two more points in the Premiership title race at Hibernian.

The champions snatched a late draw after falling two goals behind at Easter Road, and Lennon was furious with the manner by which his team conceded those goals, criticising captain Scott Brown in particular for giving away a needless penalty for the Hibs opener.

Lennon now admits that his men can ill afford any more slip-ups even this early in the campaign as they look to secure a tenth title in a row.

“No we can’t,” Lennon said. “This team is capable of going on a good run but they have to be mentally tuned in week in, week out and it was apparent today that some of them switched off mentally.

“We don’t do the dirty bits well enough and we need to get rid of that softness because teams are highly motivated against us. We have to respect that.

“The two goals are far too easy and then you give yourself a lot to do. You can talk about tactics and formations until you are blue in the face but it is just the simple things. One, don’t give the penalty away when the guy is going away and two, either win the first header or track the runner and get a block on.

"We shot ourselves in the foot. Scott's made a really rash decision that was unnecessary. The second goal is awful. It's just lazy. I's a free header and we didn't track the run and just let (Kevin) Nisbet get the shot off. It was so easy.

"We gave ourselves a mountain to climb and we did it. The attitude and quality in the last 20 minutes was excellent but that should be for the 90 minutes.

"[The point] might be important as we go along but I am not in celebratory mood at the minute. (Scott) Bain even saves the penalty and we have two boys stood watching it. Murphy is first to react.

"We've got get a defensive mode on. We are not doing the nuts and bolts anywhere near well enough. There's a softness about us defensively that we have got to eradicate.

"There's a long way to go but what I'm looking for is a level of performance and getting a run together. The attitude of some of the players has to be better.”