Lennon sees 'good signs' despite Celtic defeat to Milan

Neil Lennon believes he can take some positives from his side’s Europa League loss to Milan despite the disappointment of the 3-1 defeat.

The Italian side showed their class as they took a 2-0 lead through Rade Krunic and Brahim Diaz and, though Mohamed Elyounoussi found the net for Celtic in the second half, Jens Petter Hauge wrapped up the scoring with a late goal.

Lennon switched to a back four in defence at half-time and was rewarded with a more settled and positive performance from his players but still saw room for improvement.

“I thought we deserved something from the game,” the Celtic manager said. “We were very good in the second half, a lot better, better play, better body language but we lacked a cutting edge.

“We got into good areas in the first half but the final ball needs to be better at this level, we gave away two soft goals.

“But we made changes at half-time and we played better in the second half.”

Though the result meant a second successive defeat after losing to Rangers last Saturday, Lennon felt the team was moving forward from the bruising domestic result.

“It was markedly better than the weekend,” he said. “It was encouraging.

“I don’t like losing but there were a lot of good signs for me.

“I wanted an improvement and we got a big improvement. Part of me is quite pleased with that.

“We could have shied away from it all after the criticism we have taken and I have taken but they showed their personality in the second half.”