Lennon warns he could drop sloppy Celtic stars

Neil Lennon: Unhappy with his side after the defeat to St Johnstone and has threatened to drop some players for Benfica test

Celtic boss Neil Lennon has threatened to drop his players for their Champions League opener against Benfica in midfweek after their 2-1 defeat by St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park.

Kris Commons fired Celtic into the lead in the third minute and it looked like it would be a comfortable win over the struggling Perth club.

However, Gregory Tade levelled in the 18th minute before Rowan Vine's first goal for the Saints with 10 minutes to go gave the home side their first SPL win of the season.

An angry Lennon, who revealed skipper Scott Brown will need to be assessed after picking up a hamstring problem, said: "There was a softness that I haven't seen and subconsciously it was with Wednesday night in mind.

"A lot of them had half an eye on Wednesday night and it is making me re-think my team in terms of their attitude.

"If they are being complacent or cruising through games they won't play, that's not what they are paid for. That performance was unacceptable.

"I am very disappointed. It was a poor performance from us. After getting off to a good start we let the game drift away from us.

"It was a needless performance, it was unacceptable. We could have been beaten by anybody today.

"We had so many stray passes, we played like strangers at times.

"We conceded no goals in three of the four Champions League qualifiers and we have conceded seven in five league games so there is definitely a mindset there that we need to change very quickly.

"They have a lot of good publicity but the game can bite you very quickly and it has bit them today and I hope they have been brought back down to earth with a crunch."