Neil Lennon calls for a fast start from Celtic

Neil Lennon wants Celtic to spring out of the traps against Cluj in Thursday night's Europa League clash at Parkhead.

The Hoops were knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers by the Romanian outfit in August, following a 4-3 home defeat.

The Celtic boss was not happy with the way his side started the game and is looking for improvement in their second Group E fixture, following a 1-1 draw with Rennes in France on match day one.

He said: “It is important to start the game well. I want us to get a head of steam up.

“That is important. Obviously we have to be wary of Cluj trying to negate that or taking the game to us.

“I am expecting the game to be high octane.

“That is the kind of performance I want from us, to get the crowd going as quickly as they can because that is a real added factor for us at home.''

Lennon is delighted with his side's form since the Cluj setback, which remains their only defeat in 18 matches this season.

The Scottish champions dropped their only Ladbrokes Premiership points of the season against Hibernian in a 1-1 draw at Easter Road at the weekend.

He said: “We have good belief about ourselves now.

“There is decent cohesion and understanding and of course players have got a lot of match rhythm and game time and a familiarity with the way we play.

“In that respect we are in a better place now maybe than we were then.

“I am delighted. We have made a super start to the season, whether it be domestically or in Europe.

“I thought the performance in Rennes was excellent and we carried on in the same vein domestically.

“There is a new back four, more or less, a new goalkeeper and we have been on a good run since then, more or less won every game apart from the weekend."

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