Celtic's Neil Lennon 'proud' of performance against Udinese despite seeing his side exit the Europa League

The Northern Irishman reserved special praise for on-loan goalkeeper Fraser Forster as he kept his side in the game with a number of fine saves in Italy

Dec 15, 2011 11:04:00 PM

By Michael Lightfoot

More On :  Celtic, Udinese, Neil Lennon, Fraser Forster
UEFA Europa League: Neil Lennon, Celtic v Stade Rennais
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Celtic manager Neil Lennon was "proud" of his side even as they bowed out of the Europa League with a 1-1 draw against Udinese.

Whoever won the game went through and the Hoops came close to qualifying as Gary Hooper struck first to open the scoring only for Antonio Di Natale to peg the SPL side back on the stroke of half-time.

Celtic had the misfortune of seeing Cha Du Ri's volley come back off the post as they looked to find that all important winner but it wasn't to be.

Lennon told ESPN: "I was very proud of the team, everyone made a fantastic contribution and with a bit of luck we'd be through.

"I thought there was a clear handball, I thought it hit one of their centre-backs on the arm, we hit the post, we had one cleared off the line.

"In terms of chances it was was almost as good as we've played.

"To come away from home, to Italy of all places, and play like that was good to see."

On-loan goalkeeper Fraser Forster kept his side in the game with a number of fine saves but his team-mates couldn't finish the job off.

The Newcastle man has been compared to a former Celtic star by his boss.

Lennon added: "We had Artur Boruc a couple of years ago and in Forster, I think we've found another one like that. There were some top-class saves. You need your goalkeeper like that."

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