KENNY DALGLISH says that Neil Lennon deserves the chance to turn Celtic’s season around, and the club icon believes that the board will stand by their manager despite their recent poor form.

Lennon has come under pressure after losing consecutive home games to Rangers and AC Milan, and the draw with Aberdeen on Sunday has left his side six points adrift at the top of the Premiership table.

But Dalglish contends that Lennon’s past achievements as manager of the club should buy him the time to put things right, and he thinks that is exactly what will happen.

“I don’t think it’s in dispute, he’ll get a chance [to turn things around],” Dalglish said. “It’s not going to be taken away from him.

“Last year at the winter break Rangers were top of the league, and Lenny went on and won the league, won the Betfred [Cup] as well, and the third trophy from last year is what they’re playing for on Sunday.

“Why shouldn’t they [give him more time]? I’m sure they’ve looked at the background and the results.

“He has a 77 percent win rate, so it doesn’t look to me like there’s much need for anybody to be over-enthusiastic and try to get rid of somebody.

“And I don’t think he would deserve it because of what he has done for the football club.

“The respect he has for the football club is matched by the respect they have for him, so I don’t see any reason for the football club to act as badly as some people would suggest.

“Lenny has got credit in the bank and it’s not historical – it’s present day.

“It’s been three games in the one week. If those games had been spread over a month he would probably have had some of the [unavailable] players back at some stage. It’s what you can put on the pitch which is the most important thing.

“You’ve just got to work with what you’ve got. The sooner the players come back, the better the chance they’ll have of getting positive results.

“But there will be no panic at the football club. That’s a guarantee.”