MX23RW : Sunday, June 30 16:07:06| >> :600:326361:326361:
[monks data]
Attendance: 28,410
Europa League Qualifying | Playoff Round
Aug 29, 2019 at 6pm UK
 
Celtic logo

1-4

Larsson (33' pen.)
FT(HT: 1-2)
Forrest (17'), Johnston (34'), Jullien (87'), Morgan (93')

Neil Lennon rejects idea of defending lead in Europa League second leg

Neil Lennon rejects idea of defending lead in Europa League second leg
© Reuters
The Hoops face AIK in Stockholm, with a place in the Europa League group stage at stake.

Neil Lennon insists Celtic will go on the front foot and look to seal their Europa League place by killing off AIK Stockholm on Thursday night.

The Hoops take a 2-0 lead to Sweden as they look to clinch a pass to the group stages.

And Lennon has dismissed any notion of his side sitting in to protect the advantage they built up in Glasgow last week thanks to strikes from James Forrest and Odsonne Edouard.

The Northern Irishman believes that will only invite trouble to the Scottish champions' door.

Instead, he will order his men to stick to the attacking game plan that has taken them to the brink of qualification.

"We're a front-foot team," the Hoops boss told the club's official website. "We're not going to ask players to do something alien in the space of two or three days.

"Setting up defensively might be a recipe for disaster.

"AIK are dangerous. They won at the weekend, they have good strikers and in Seb Larsson they have a very experienced, quality player who's a threat at set-plays.

"Set-pieces are something we have to be very wary of.

"They have a good mentality and will believe the tie's not over so we have to respect that as well."

Celtic conceded four times at home as they were dumped out of the Champions League by Romanian club Cluj.

But they barely broke a sweat as they took care of AIK at Parkhead last week.

Lennon would not be surprised if his side have more to deal with at the Friends Arena – but that will not mean he alters his game plan.

"If the time runs down they might come out and have a real go at us or they might do that to start with," he said.

"They may be patient, let us have the ball and counter-attack us.

"I can't predict it but what I can predict is we'll play how we want to play and impose our game on them."

ID:369581: cacheID:369581:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:3188:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Celtic manager Neil Lennon pictured on August 13, 2019
Read Next:
Neil Lennon warns Celtic players to be ready for Old Firm "battle"
>
Read more about Neil Lennon Football
rhs 2.0
Euro 2024 fixtures header
Sunday, June 30
 
8pm
Monday, July 1
 
5pm
 
8pm
Tuesday, July 2
 
8pm
Friday, July 5
Saturday, July 6
Tuesday, July 9
Wednesday, July 10
Sunday, July 14
Tables header RHS

Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Germany Germany32107
Q Switzerland Switzerland31205
3 Hungary Hungary31023
4 Scotland flag Scotland30121

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Spain Spain33009
Q Italy Italy31114
3 Croatia Croatia30212
4 Albania national flag Albania30121

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England31205
Q Denmark Denmark30303
Q Slovenia Slovenia30303
4 Serbia Serbia30212

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Austria Austria32016
Q France France31205
Q Netherlands Netherlands31114
4 Poland Poland30121

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Romania Romania31114
Q Belgium Belgium31114
Q Slovakia Slovakia31114
4 Ukraine Ukraine31114

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal32016
Q Turkey Turkey32016
Q Georgia Georgia31114
4 Czech Republic Czech Republic30121


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!