Neil Lennon praised Celtic's team ethos after they edged out Rangers to move to the top of the Scottish Premier League.
Celtic boss insists league is still far from over despite moving top
Manager Neil Lennon hailed Celtic's team ethos after they edged out Rangers on Wednesday night to move to the top of the Scottish Premier League.
Celtic had trailed their Glasgow rivals by 15 points at one stage this season, but their ninth straight league victory ensured they will now head into the New Year with a two-point advantage over Ally McCoist's men.
Joe Ledley's second-half header was enough to settle a tight and scrappy encounter at Celtic Park and Lennon was delighted with the character his side showed.
"It was a good performance, it wasn't a brilliant performance but it was a good, controlled team performance," he told
Sky Sports.
"We sacrificed a bit by leaving Ki out, but these games are physical and with (Victor) Wanyama and (Beram) Kayal in there we needed a platform in the game, but we always thought we'd be dangerous with Forrest and Hooper and Samaras.
"The main concern was the back four obviously, we had Rogne and I thought we'd need someone dominant because I thought at Ibrox their two strikers got the better of us aerially.
Praise for Rogne
"He's (Rogne) got a good temperament and he's composed. In amongst all the hurly-burly tonight I could see his head coming up and heading the ball out which is what you need to do against Rangers because they work the ball well into wide areas and get the ball into the box.
"I thought he (Rogne) and Mulgrew dovetailed superbly tonight because (Nikica) Jelavic and (Kyle) Lafferty are a handful for any team."
Lennon conceded that he had not expected his team to overhaul Rangers so quickly, but insists the title race remains far from over.
"I always believed," he continued. "It's come quicker than we expected obviously, but that's the consistency that this team has put together and we knew that Rangers couldn't keep their form up from the start of the season.
"Confidence comes from victories. I think Motherwell was a big win for us, we scored late on there and the momentum started there. People like (Daniel) Majstorovic, Kayal and Hooper started playing well and (James) Forrest has been a revelation this season, he's been so consistent.
"At the moment we're in a good place, but this changes nothing - all it does is psychologically give us a lift going into the New Year.
"I thought the difference between the two teams at Ibrox in the second half was that Rangers wanted it more than us and I didn't want that to happen again.
"To be fair to the players they've galvanised themselves over the last couple of months, we're looking a good team and I think the European games have been a huge help in terms of this team growing."
