Lennon feared another shock cup defeat

Celtic captain Neil Lennon feared the Hoops were in danger of another shock exit from the Tennent's Scottish Cup after they fell behind to Livingston at Almondvale yesterday.

The Bank of Scotland Premier League champions lost 2-1 to Scottish First Division side Clyde in the third round last January and some familiar demons raised their heads in the fourth-round clash in West Lothian.

Defender David Mackay gave the home side the lead after 18 minutes when he headed home Lee Makel's free-kick, and there were some nervous touches from Celtic in the immediate aftermath.

However, Gordon Strachan's side survived that early fright to cruise through to a quarter-final tie with Inverness Caledonian thanks to a Derek Riordan double and strikes by Darren O'Dea and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.

But Lennon revealed his early thoughts in the game were of another embarrassing cup exit to a lower league club.

He said: ‘When they scored first I thought, `Oh no, Clyde all over again'.

‘But you try not to let the panic set in. Up until then there weren't that many chances at either end so we just had to get settled and pass the ball and once we did that then the goals came.

‘I felt we played really well, as well as we've played for a few weeks now.

‘It was good to get a good performance and score some goals.’

Despite taking the lead, Livingston never really looked as if they had the conviction to beat the Parkhead side and in the end they were left chasing shadows, with Japan's Shunsuke Nakamura setting up three of the goals on a scintillating performance.

Mackay admits his early goal only served to suspend the inevitable defeat.

He said: ‘Their class showed in the end and they ran out comfortable winners.

‘We did well at the beginning and didn't give them much space but a team like Celtic is always going to have most of the ball and with the players they have got, they are going to hurt you.

‘The goals we lost were poor but in saying that, some of their finishing was great.’