Criticism of Neil Lennon is 'ridiculous', says Stuart Kettlewell
Kettlewell takes his Ross County side to Celtic Park this weekend
Ross County manager Stuart Kettlewell says it's 'ridiculous' that people are questioning the job Neil Lennon has done at Celtic.
The Parkhead boss has come under fire after falling 11 points behind Rangers in the table and only winning two of their last eight games.
Lennon faces another two big matches this week when they travel to face Sparta Prague in the Europa League on Thursday before hosting Kettlewell's County on Sunday in the Betfred Cup.
The Dingwall boss thinks the standard of the league is improving as a whole and believes that is the reason Lennon is getting criticised.
Kettlewell said: “I think Neil Lennon has done an amazing job.
"You get asked questions about your upcoming opponents on a weekly basis but to take over the reigns from Brendan Rodgers and do what he has been able to do has been massive.
“He has obviously got stiff competition on where they want to go and what they want to achieve this year. You can see Rangers are absolutely flying. I watched them again at the weekend and thought they were excellent”.
“A lot of clubs are improving and the standard is probably going up and that makes the challenge even greater.
“To be throwing him into question and questioning what he has done as a manager is a bit ridiculous.
Ross County are looking to bounce back from their own troubles after losing to ten-man Kilmarnock in the Premiership on Saturday.
Kettlewell thinks they'll be up against it this weekend, but says it's a challenge they are looking forward to.
He said: “I’m fairly certain that he’s going to have a team set out for Thursday and for Sunday fully with the intent of winning both games and trying to keep themselves involved in Europe and in the Betfred Cup.
“That makes it a stiff test for us but it’s got to be one that we relish and enjoy taking on”.