Neil Lennon wants to see a reaction from Celtic against Benfica

Neil Lennon: Celtic manager is looking for a reaction from his players against Benfica in the Champions League

Neil Lennon wants to see a reaction from Celtic when his side face Benfica in their opening UEFA Champions League group game on Wednesday night.

The SPL champions suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at St Johnstone at the weekend and Lennon was unhappy with the Bhoys' performance at McDiarmid Park.

He is expecting a tough test when Benfica visit Parkhead and Lennon is hoping that the setback against St Johnstone proves to be a one-off.

"The sign of a good team is how you come back from a defeat and I am looking for a reaction," said the Celtic manager.

"They know that the level of performance (in Perth) was not acceptable, I don't want to see that again.

"They are entitled to a day off, a bad game, but in the main I've been pretty pleased with the contributions this season.

"There shouldn't be any nerves, this is a competition that the players look forward to playing in, to challenge themselves against the best clubs in Europe and Benfica certainly come into that category.

"What I want to see is the team playing as well as they can. I want to see them express themselves, play the football that they know they are capable of and hopefully improve on Saturday's performance."