Lennon misses press conference

Celtic manager Neil Lennon has failed to turn up for his press conference ahead of an SPL clash with St Johnstone.

Celtic boss fails to turn up for his weekly press conference

Celtic manager Neil Lennon has failed to turn up for his weekly press conference ahead of an SPL clash with St Johnstone this Sunday. It is believed to be in response to the Scottish Football Association's request for him to explain comments that he made earlier in the week. Lennon had stated: "It will be nice just to be able to go out and think only about winning a game of football - and maybe have a decent refereeing performance into the bargain." Lennon had been angered by referee Calum Murray's decision to send him to the stands at half-time in the Old Firm derby with Rangers last weekend. The decision was later labelled by Lennon as a 'joke', prompting SFA compliance officer Vincent Lunny to ask the Northern Irishman to explain his comments. Lunny had already requested an explanation from Lennon after he described referee Willie Collum's decision not to award a penalty in their game with Kilmarnock as 'criminal'. Celtic captain Scott Brown has leapt to the defence of his manager, suggesting that the comments have been taken out of context. He said: "You can't say anything about anybody or it goes to the SFA. "It is extremely difficult, if he (Lennon) says one word, it gets blown out of proportion."