NEIL Lennon has defended Celtic's trip to Dubai - and insisted all appropriate protocol has been followed.

The First Minister Nicola Sturgeon questioned earlier whether Celtic had complied with elite bubble rules during their training camp.

READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon questions whether Celtic have complied with elite bubble rules during Dubai trip

The Celtic squad flew out to the Middle East following their defeat to Rangers last Saturday, a result which leaves the 19 points behind their city rivals.

Speaking at her daily briefing, the First Minister revealed that the Scottish Government had given advice to the Scottish FA in regards to elite training camps in November, but stated that “the world around the pandemic has changed quite a bit since November”.

READ MORE: Shane Duffy exits Celtic Dubai training camp as he returns home

Sturgeon also said photographs from the trip should be “looked in to”.

But Lennon insisted that the camp had been arranged with full consultation from authorities.

Speaking to the Celtic website, he said: “We are sure the camp will be really important for us. It is the same format as previous years, obviously with one significant difference being the protocols in place for COVID, but we hope that we get the same lift from it and can go on another great run in the New Year as we did last season, that’s our real focus just now.

“As the club said yesterday, the camp was arranged some time ago, with the full consultation of the footballing authorities and given approval by the Scottish Government. Of course, we understand that we are in very unique and difficult times and there are now even tougher restrictions in place at home, but the camp is risk assessed and arranged in conjunction with Scottish football’s Joint Response Group.

“We have put in place all the appropriate protocols and we have undertaken the camp as we see the sporting benefits from it and hope it can do for us what it has done in the past.

“From the first day of camp yesterday and into today, the boys have been working tremendously hard as we always do on a camp which has served us so well over recent seasons. And that will be the format for the rest of the week, very tough, but productive and important sessions to get us ready for the second half of the season.”