Bhoys Keep Lennon's League Winning Streak Going

While they may have fallen to second place in the Scottish Premier League on goal difference, Celtic kept up their winning ways with a decent 2-1 away win over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.

The game didn't start well for the Bhoys though, Killie's Conor Sammon latching onto a Eremenko pass and passing the ball into the net past 'keeper Fraser Forster.

Celtic equalized before the interval though through Daryl Murphy who calmly slotted away a penalty given when Frazer Wright brought down Anthony Stokes in the box.

The game was won in the 52nd minute when the younster Stokes scored his Celtic opener, the first since moving to Parkhead from Hibs.

Speaking after the game manager Neil Lennon seemed delighted with the result, saying, "I'm thrilled with the character we showed after going a goal down and some aspects of the play were very good.

"Some aspects I wasn't pleased with. I thought at times we were forcing the issue too much and were defensively ill-disciplined at times but overall I'm very, very pleased.

"We kept giving the ball away cheaply under no pressure. The goal was preventable. A midfield player's got on the wrong side of theirs and Glenn Loovens sort of got his back turned by Sammon. It's a good finish, to be fair.

"Once we got a stranglehold of the game, we were okay."

Celtic now face Inverness CT in their mid-week CIS Insurance Cup Third Round game on Wednesday and will host Hibs in the League on Saturday morning.

On Thursday it was reported that the club was considering a play for Santos Laguna forward Gustavo Adrian Ruelas.

The 19-year-old forward who plays for the USA Under-20s is expected to travel to Glasgow for a trial in the next few days.

Neil Lennon has also confirmed that he is enthusiastic for Georgios Samaras to stay at the club when he current contract runs out, and said that talks between the club and player could begin as soon as next month: "Hopefully his representatives will be over next month and we'll get something bedded down then."

This comes after Greek outfit Hercules failed to secure a deal with the striker during the off-season.

Despite the arrival of Gary Hooper and Daryl Murphy, Samaras decided to stay and fight for his place at Celtic.

In other transfer news, captain Scott Brown has been linked to moves by Juventus and Inter Milan, but Lennon insisted that it was just idle speculation at the current time.