Double fitness wait for Lennon

Celtic are sweating on the fitness of Kris Commons and Anthony Stokes ahead of the Champions League qualifier against HJK Helsinki.

Hoops chief Neil Lennon is formulating his plans for the third round first leg clash at Parkhead on Wednesday evening as the side look to secure a lead to take to Finland for the second leg and move a step closer to the lucrative group stages of the competition. However, the potential loss of both Commons and Stokes to respective ankle injuries picked up in the 1-1 friendly draw with Inter Milan on Saturday will be a huge blow. Both players will be given late fitness tests to see if they can feature, while Lennon is boosted by the return of Scott Brown, Kelvin Wilson, Thomas Rogne, James Forrest and Beram Kayal for the encounter. Looking ahead to the game, Lennon told the Celtic official website: "They lost their league game at the weekend but up until then they'd been in good form. "They are defensively well-organised and have good players in wide areas. They have two good full-backs as well who are comfortable on the ball and get forward well. "It's a very tough task for us. They are 18 games into their season and that's always beneficial to any team playing a British club at this stage in the season. We will have to play very well to get through the tie."