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Neil Lennon told to "ignore" speculation over Celtic future

Celtic's interim manager guided them into the final of the William Hill Scottish Cup.

Interim Celtic boss Neil Lennon revealed the club's majority shareholder Dermot Desmond told him to ignore "the noise" surrounding his future before the 3-0 William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final win over Aberdeen.

The Northern Irishman was put in charge until the end of the season when Brendan Rodgers left for Leicester in February.

While names such as Andre Villas-Boas and Roberto Martinez have been mentioned as possible successors, Lennon guided the Hoops to effectively within 90 minutes of an unprecedented domestic treble treble against nine-man Dons at Hampden Park.

The Pittodrie men held out until the 38th minute when they lost Dominic Ball to a second yellow card from referee Craig Thomson after a gruesome clash of heads with Ryan Christie.

James Forrest fired Celtic ahead in first-half stoppage time and Odsonne Edouard's penalty and a precise finish from substitute Tom Rogic completed a miserable afternoon for the Dons, who also had midfielder Lewis Ferguson, assistant manager Tony Docherty and manager Derek McInnes sent off.

Celtic, Betfred Cup winners earlier in the season and 11 points clear of Rangers at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership, will face Hearts in the final.

Lennon revealed Christie looked to have suffered "a broken eye socket or a fractured cheek bone" before he addressed the on-going speculation over his position.

He said: "It was a highly-pressured game. Whether it has any impact on my future or not, I don't know.

"I spoke to Dermot yesterday and he said all the speculation and all the noise was just nonsense.

"I knew that anyway because these are class people I work for and I've worked for before. I know the way they work and I know it was just conjecture and speculation.

"They leave me get on with the job which was reassuring, but I didn't need that reassurance anyway.

"There was a lot of pressure going into the game because, if we lost, the treble treble's gone and the cup record.

"If the club perceives the best way forward is to go somewhere else, I'm not going to argue with that."

Lennon is hopeful that Christie will be available for the final.

The former Celtic skipper said: "People will talk about the sending-off but for me it was a second yellow.

"It was a real bad one. I don't think there was any intention to hurt Ryan, but he's late in the challenge.

"Unfortunately we've lost Ryan to what could be a bad injury. He was conscious at half-time so we are not sure whether it's a broken eye socket or a fractured cheek bone.

"According to the medical team, they are hoping he'll be fit for the cup final when it comes around. We're looking at three/four weeks out.

"Both myself and Derek heard the crack. It was a hell of a challenge."

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rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
Championship Group
1Celtic110082275581
2RangersRangers110074245078
3Hearts101046341263
4Kilmarnock10104334952
5St Mirren10013945-643
6Dundee10014556-1141
Relegation Group
1Hibernian11004752-542
2Aberdeen11003649-1338
3Motherwell10014652-637
4St Johnstone10012549-2431
5Ross County10013258-2630
6Livingston11002459-3521
 
First Phase
1Celtic33246380265478
2RangersRangers33243672234975
3Hearts33195946341262
4Kilmarnock33131284334951
5St Mirren33127143843-543
6Dundee331011124454-1041
7Hibernian33912124451-739
8Motherwell33813124651-537
9Aberdeen33811143549-1435
10St Johnstone33710162446-2231
11Ross County3379173256-2430
12Livingston3339212259-3718


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