CELTIC are bracing themselves for further protests against manager Neil Lennon and the club hierarchy when they take on St Johnstone tomorrow at Celtic Park.

Fences have been erected around the stadium in a bid to deter scenes similar to those that were witnessed following the League Cup defeat to Ross County last weekend.

Those measures did not however deter supporters' group The Green Brigade from staging their own protest at the ground yesterday, erecting a banner aping the Zoom call in which majority shareholder and chief executive Peter Lawwell offered their backing to manager Lennon, and accusing them of losing connection with the Celtic support.

That demonstration came just hours after Lennon had urged fans not to protest at Celtic Park, saying it only serves to undermine his attempts at turning their season around.

“Hopefully, they [fans] will be celebrating a victory as that’s what we’ll be trying to do,” Lennon said. “I’ve touched on what we thought of it last Sunday and, if it is going to be reminiscent, it’s not what we need or what the players need at the minute.

“We know what’s at stake and we know what we have to do. If we play anywhere near the levels we did in Milan and we transfer that into Sunday [then we should win].

“We looked far more like ourselves in Milan. I was disappointed with the third and fourth goals. We had enough bodies to be dealing with it and we should be dealing with it.

“We played very well under the circumstances and we played with bravery, so we need to take that forward now."

A statement from The Green Brigade read: "Events over the course of the last two weeks have further highlighted that change is desperately required at Celtic Football Club.

"Three consecutive defeats have added to an already disastrous start to the season.

"Whilst we still believe that a managerial change is unfortunately necessary, the structural problems within the club run deeper.

"A recent statement released in Peter Lawwell's name urged unity, but this can only occur with leadership that puts the good of the club first.

"If the current custodians cannot provide that in this crucial moment, they are demonstrating that they are unfit to hold the positions that they do."