NEIL LENNON says that Celtic have the ‘minerals’ to turn their season around after another damaging result against Sparta Prague, and that he is the man best placed to revive their ailing fortunes.

Celtic went down to a second consecutive 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Czech side in Prague last night, a result that ends their chances of progressing from their Europa League group.

Lennon insists though that he still believes he can provoke a response from this group of players, despite a run of just two wins in nine matches.

“Of course I do,” Lennon said. “I know this group better than anybody.

“Look, at the end of last year we lost to Rangers and everyone was writing us off.

“We were getting slaughtered from all and sundry, whether it was our own supporters or everyone else in the game saying the league was over. So we’ve been here before.

“We put a great run together in the second half of last season and we can do that again.

“This feels a little bit different - that we have a bit more work to do - but we’re still quite confident we’ll turn it around.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do catching up in the league but it’s not beyond us. Far from it.

“People have their fears. We are bitterly disappointed with the run that we are on. But we know we have the minerals to turn it around. And we know we have to turn it around quickly, but it’s something that is not going to happen overnight.

“We are out of Europe so we have to concentrate on domestic duties now that is the whole focus. The league is the priority.

“I’ve been in situations like this before as a manager. I’ve been in situations like this as a player.

“There is no reason for me to believe that we can’t turn it around.”