IN the immediate aftermath of Celtic’s UEFA Champions League first qualifying round victory over FK Sarajevo, Neil Lennon hailed such a high intensity performance so early in the season. The 3-1 first leg win sets the Scottish champions up nicely for the return leg at Paradise next Wednesday, July 17.

Great goals from Mikey Johnston, Odsonne Edouard and Scott Sinclair saw the Hoops come back from a goal behind, in a match they dominated for the majority of open play.

“I thought we were fantastic, especially considering where we are in terms of our condition and our lack of match fitness, it was a really strong performance,” said Neil Lennon. “We needed that, because Sarajevo were good and physically very strong, and we knew they’d be a threat at set-plays.

“We conceded and then we got a great response from Mikey, and from then on we controlled the game. To score three goals away from home, I’m very, very pleased with that.”

The Hoops boss admitted it took his side a while to work out their opponents, but once they did, they controlled much of the play in all areas of the pitch.

FK Sarajevo played with a physical presence, but Neil Lennon was delighted with his players, both his starting XI and the impact subs that affected the game coming off the bench.

He added: “Once we opened the game up, we were able to stretch them and wear them down and we looked a lot more in control of the game. The subs that came on made a great contribution as well.

“It’s always important to score away from home, and while I didn’t think the tie was getting away from us at any point, we knew that they were strong at set-plays. That’s obviously an area we’ll have to work on, and with the likes of Christopher Jullien coming in, that’ll help in that area as well. Our overall play and overall standard of play was very good.”

Manager: Sarajevo win is a fantastic start to competitive fixtures