NEIL Lennon said his side are on a mission to entertain after they smashed the 50-goal mark in the course of sweeping Partick Thistle aside to book a BetFred Cup semi-final spot against Hibernian. That is 51 goals in 17 matches in all competitions for the Parkhead side, courtesy of the goals without reply last night from Vakoun Bayo, the returning Tom Rogic and Scott Sinclair plus an Olivier Ntcham double which made it a somewhat unhappy first match of Ian McCall’s second coming as Partick Thistle manager.
“It is only the end of September, so we are a long, long way to go,” said Lennon. “But to score the amount of goals we are scoring shows we are here to entertain. It is an entertainment business, and that is what we want to do. Allied to that, we want to win games as well.”
Lennon professed himself happy with a semi-final draw which will see Celtic face Hibernian, who came through a penalty shoot-out down at Rugby Park, at Hampden Park on the weekend of November 2/3, although he admitted that much could have changed in the five weeks before those matches tick round. He gets a chance to look at Paul Heckingbottom’s side first hand at Easter Road this Saturday.
“It’s a nice feeling to see your name in the semi-final draw,” said the Northern Irishman. “I know we are so accustomed to it but it’s another cracking game to look forward to.
“No matter who we got tonight, it would have been a good team with the quality left in the draw. We know Hibs will give us a good game on Saturday too.
“You always want to avoid the better teams, if you want to call it that, but it’s too early in the season to say that. By the time the semi-final comes around, the team you play could be on a great run. But we are in a good position, playing with freedom and looking fit. It was a fraught transfer window but we came out the end of it very strong. Some of the players who have been on the fringes are now starting to show their quality."
This was Celtic’s 29th successive win in the cup competitions and it was achieved despite Lennon making eight changes to his starting line-up. In what was a show of the club’s strength in depth, there was particular praise for Bayo, Rogic, Olivier Ntcham and former Manchester City youngster Jeremie Frimpong. The 18-year-old right back, given a deserved man of the match award on his debut, is already vying for a regular first team spot.
“He is battling for a first team place already, no question,” said a delighted Lennon. “You can’t stop the talent at times, as soon as he came in, we brought him into first team training and he has excelled. We are excited about him but we don’t want to get carried away. For a guy with small stature he has a lot of personality and energy and strength, he is quite deceptive. It is only one game but we feel this guy could be a really good player for us.”
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