Lennon handed options boost

Celtic boss Neil Lennon is hoping Thomas Rogne, Scott Brown, Georgios Samaras and Kris Commons will be fit to face Helsingborg.

The Hoops moved one step closer to the Champions League group stages with a 2-0 first leg win in Sweden last Tuesday, but Lennon was forced to make six changes to his side for Saturday's 4-2 win at Inverness. Several fringe players were given a start by the Northern Irishman and they took their opportunity well as Tony Watt scored a brace, while 18-year-old Filip Twardzik impressed with Kelvin Wilson and Mikael Lustig forming a good partnership in defence. Looking ahead to Wednesday's return leg against Helsingborg, Lennon, who watched Victor Wanyama and Charlie Mulgrew also find the net in the Highlands, hopes to have Rogne, Brown, Samaras and Commons in contention following respective ankle, hip, thigh and ankle problems. However Joe Ledley and Beram Kayal will definitely miss out along with forwards Anthony Stokes and Daryl Murphy, while Ki Sung yueng has completed his move to Swansea. A delighted Lennon said: "It gives the squad a huge boost and gives me a lot of food for thought. "I'm hoping Samaras, Brown, Rogne and Commons will all be okay for Wednesday, allied with the boys who played." He added: "We had made a lot of changes by then and just wanted to blood some of the younger ones, it was a good opportunity to do so. "We might never get the chance to do so again. "It will give them a little bit of experience, whether it's a negative one or not. It shouldn't be, some of them have made their debuts today and should be proud of that."