Parkhead pain with be their gain, says Danny

Dec 18 2012 by Paul Behan, Paisley Daily Express

Saints boss Danny Lennon has backed young guns John McGinn and Jon Robertson to learn from their Celtic Park experience.

For the two midfielders, Saturday’s SPL clash was their first-ever senior game at the home of the defending champions – and neither looked out of place.

The 47,790-strong crowd was also the largest attendance that either player had experienced.

Despite the 2-0 scoreline, Saints manager Lennon believes Robertson, 23 and McGinn, 18, will thrive from playing in such an arena.

Lennon said: “We told John and wee ‘Robbo’ prior to the game to go out and enjoy the experience because they were playing against the best in Scotland and a club that’s in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League.

“That’s the highest level they are going to compete against in Scotland, so there are bound to be anxieties prior to a game like that because you are only human.

“But it’s something they’ll strive for again.

“I thought they competed very well and, overall, we were well organised.

“As a football club, we’ll strive to get these boys as close to that standard as possible and more importantly, that experience alone in that type of atmosphere will stand them in good stead.

“It’s something they will need to cash-in on for the next time but I’m sure that experience will do them – and others – the world of good.

“Both John McGinn and Jon Robertson did fine.

“With wee McGinn, he’s a good passer, although sometimes he gave it away cheaply – but that can happen in that arena.

“Next time he goes back there, or faces Celtic, he can cash-in on it.”

Lennon has received some criticism in some quarters for adopting a more suppressive game plan at the weekend.

However, Lennon admitted that he had to be realistic when faced with such a dominant opposition in their own back yard.

He admitted: “Yes, sitting in and trying to suppress Celtic isn’t the way we like to go and play football.

“I even spoke to Neil Lennon after the game and he told me he’d do the exact same.

“With that in mind, Celtic are a lot closer, in terms of finance, to Barcelona, than we are to Celtic.

“Having said that, the positives I took from the game were our discipline and our organisation.

“We proved difficult to break down.

“Where we did let ourselves down was when we did get the ball, we didn’t do enough with it.”