Celtic manager Neil Lennon was critical of some of the challenges made by Peterhead’s players in his team’s 3-0 Scottish Cup win at Balmoor.

An Anthony Stokes hat-trick won the match for the Hoops, but afterwards Lennon said he was aggrieved at some of the treatment dished out by the Third Division team.

One challenge by Blue Toon midfielder Jamie Redman forced Joe Ledley to leave the field and angered the Celts boss.

He said: "I wasn't happy with the challenge on Ledley but the referee deemed that to be accidental.

"There were a few meaty challenges going around but you expect that when you come away from home in the cup.

"You are always worried as you can get injuries at any time. We have obviously lost Beram Kayal this week and he could be out for a concerted period of time. You want to restrict the injuries to a minimum if you can.

"I think we were just a bit quicker to the ball at times. I don't think there was any real malice in the challenges but Joe was definitely caught with a swinging elbow."

However home manager Jim McInally defended his squad’s approach to the tie.

He said: "I did think the players showed a lot of aggression and there was a lot of angry Celtic players at times.

"The first half hour was probably our best spell in the game and it was disappointing that we didn't have more shots on goal or crosses into the box. We worked that hard to get the ball back that we were sometimes tired by the time we eventually got it."

On the Redman and Ledley clash, he added: “"He has a cut eye so I don't think it was anything other than two guys clashing heads.

"I haven't seen it again but if he has elbowed him then how has he got a caught eye himself? That was why the ref made him come off for treatment. I might be wrong but to me it was just a clash of heads.

"If he (Lennon) is annoyed then he is annoyed, but we can't just stand back and let them play. We had to try and get in about them and to be fair to our players they did that."

Away from the controversy, Lennon was delighted to welcome full-back Emilio Izaguirre back from injury, adding: "I'm pretty pleased with the team and the performance.

"It was important for Izaguirre and Kelvin to get 90 minutes and I thought Paddy McCourt was excellent. We made a lot of changes but we felt the team and the squad were strong enough to cope."

IN DETAIL

• Match report: Peterhead 0-3 Celtic