Neil Lennon praises Craig Gordon after behind closed doors friendlies

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Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon is seeking playing time.

Celtic boss Neil Lennon has told the Daily Record that veteran Craig Gordon has impressed him in training and behind-closed-doors games.

The Bhoys are back in Champions League action tonight, playing the second leg of their qualifying tie with Estonian side Nomme Kalju.

Celtic lead 5-0 from the first leg, so the tie is all but over, and that gives Lennon a chance to use some lesser-seen players tonight.

New signing Christopher Jullien should make a first competitive start, whilst there may even be a chance for Craig Gordon to play tonight.

The veteran goalkeeper, 36, has yet to be picked in a competitive game by Lennon since his arrival as manager in February, and hasn’t played competitively for Celtic since the 29^th of December, meaning he’s barely been seen by Celtic fans in recent times.

Scott Bain has clearly overtaken Gordon as Celtic’s first-choice goalkeeper, but he may have a chance at featuring tonight with Lennon set to rotate his side.

Lennon has admitted that a knee problem prevented him from playing when he first arrived, but he’s over that now, having featured in the friendly against Rennes earlier this month.

Lennon has admitted that Gordon has really impressed him in training and behind-closed-doors games, giving him hope of a start – but reiterated that Bain has been brilliant and absolutely outstanding, so wants to keep the momentum with him.

“He didn’t play when I came in due to a knee problem, but he’s over that now and he’s training well, so we’ll see how we go with the two of them,” said Lennon. “Craig has really impressed me in training and in the bounce games that we’ve played, and Scott has been brilliant for me.”

“Since I came in, he’s been absolutely outstanding. It’s something that we’ll gauge as we go along. I’m not going to treat Scott Bain badly, if he’s performing well, as he has done, then it’s not a difficult thing to keep the momentum going that way,” he added.