Celtic coach thrilled with effort

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Celtic manager Neil Lennon said he was thrilled with his tired players after they returned to the top of the Scottish Premier League with a 1-0 win over Hearts on Sunday 7 October 2012.

The win topped off a great week for the Glasgow giants who picked up their first ever away win in the Champions League when they defeated Spartak Moscow on Tuesday.

The Hoops only made one change from the match in Moscow and started strongly against Hearts and took a 34th minute lead through Georgios Samaras who fired past replacement keeper Peter Enckleman.

However, Celtic showed signs of fatigue in the second half after their midweek European exploits and almost allowed Hearts to grab a stoppage time equaliser when Andy Driver fired just wide. 

Tired players

But despite a below-par performance Lennon was delighted to see his side record their third straight clean sheet and victory in the SPL.

- It was a tough week but it has been very satisfying and rewarding. It was a magnificent win and tops off a fantastic week for us all, the Hoops boss said.

- The players have been tremendous. You could see the fatigue kicking in after about an hour and we tried to get some subs on to try and freshen it up a little but there were players out there playing almost on empty.

- I understand that as they are always really tough games to come back to after a Champions League match so I was thrilled with that.