Neil Lennon hails 'fantastic response' as Celtic hammer St Johnstone

Neil Lennon was impressed with his side's response to back-to-back defeats.SNS Group

Neil Lennon was relieved by Celtic’s five-goal response to their weekend defeat as they knocked St Johnstone out of the Scottish Communities League Cup.

The manager’s morale was low after back-to-back defeats against Barcelona and Kilmarnock, but his side bounced back with Kris Commons bagging a hat-trick in their quarter final tie.

"I got everything I wanted. It was a fantastic response," said the Celtic boss.

"It was a difficult couple of days for myself, scratching my head as to where that performance [against Killie] came from but we were back to our best and some of the football and the pace they played at was of a very high order.

"It was a big game, St Johnstone were going very well so to win the game so emphatically was testament to the quality of the players and their attitude.

"We moved the ball around quickly, we were aggressive in our pressing and tackling and that is the sort of team I want to see week in, week out."

Celtic were flat in the 2-0 loss to Kilmarnock at the weekend but had the necessary verve from the off in their cup tie with the Saints.

Commons made the breakthrough in the 28th minute, seeing his shot deflected into the net by Liam Craig.

Four minutes later he made it two, before setting up Gary Hooper to extend the advantage shortly before half-time.

A penalty from Commons ten minutes into the second half made if 4-0 and substitute Charlie Mulgrew rounded off the scoring.

The draw for the semi-finals of the Scottish Communities League Cup will be made on Thursday, November 8.

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