Lennon looks forward to Super Cup

Neil Lennon appeared in relaxed mood as he spoke to the assembled media inside the Aviva Stadium this afternoon. Flanked by his skipper, Scott Brown, Lennon answered questions on a variety of topics, including his continued search for a new goalkeeper.

"[It's] not majorly important; we've two very good goalkeepers at the minute, [but] obviosuly two isn't enough. We are looking to bring another one in. Ideally that would be before we play Aberdeen. We've got another week or so before that's the case so we're hoping to get something done in between then [and now]."

Lennon was also positive in his appraisal of Celtic's current striker situation. With a tough ongoing challenge to determine who will be the preferred partnership, many are expecting Gary Hooper and Dubliner, Anthony Stokes to lead the club's attack. Stokes was a hot topic in amongst the Irish press, with many wanting to know how much the youngster figured in Lennon's plans for the coming season.

"Well they were very productive last season [Hooper and Stokes], the two of them got 40 goals between them. Anthony's still only 22 and he's a very talented player. He came in last year and he did exactly what we brought him in to do, he scored goals. There is more to come from him, we think. He had a very good relationship with Gary but we've got [Georgios] Samaras, [Daryl] Murphy, [Shaun] Moloney, [Kris] Commons, who can all play in that position as well. In terms of what he brought to the team last year, he did very, very well. We're looking, obviously, for more from him this year in terms of his goals, in terms of his all-round performances, but he knows that. He had a few problems, disciplinary wise, and he knows that as well and we've seen a different side of him, coming back this year."

Lennon's side got off to a winning start in the Scottish Premier League last week, overcoming Hibernian by two goals to nil, and the Hoops boss feels that this tournament will be of significant benefit to his side as they seek to reclaim the league title from rivals Rangers, and also as a barometer for the club's European aspirations.

"It's a fantastic opportunity for us to gauge where we are in terms of comparisons with the calibre of team of Inter Milan. We feel that Europe is important, not just to the club but to the players and the backroom staff, including myslelf, as part of our development. We play our [Europa League] qualifier on the 18th of August and we dearly want to get through that tie so we can at least  have European football at the club until December. [This tournament] will give us the opportunity to look at a different formation and different personnel in different positions to see if we can adapt against real quality opposition."

Lennon also feels that his charges have room to improve their fitness and match-sharpness and the Super Cup could be just the tonic to shake off some left-over rust.

"We are looking for more. We started the season well last week, we got a good result, and we're looking again to up the tempo. We're delighted this tournament is going ahead, we needed the games there's no doubt about that. So these games will be important for us in terms of building again for Aberdeen in a week's time, because there's still a little bit of rustiness in the squad which is understandable because we've only been back three or four weeks. These games are invaluable to us as far as preparation goes. We'll be looking to be competitive; I'm sure Manchester City, Inter Milan and the Airtricity team will be exactly the same. Even though this is a pre-season tournament, I think there'll be a little bit more of an edge to it than normally there would be."

Celtic will play Inter Milan in their opening game of the Dublin Super Cup tomorrow afternoon (kick-off 4.30pm) at the Aviva Stadium.