NEIL Lennon last night praised his Celtic players for how they had performed in the wake of Brendan Rodgers’ shock departure and predicted their last-gasp win over Hearts will be “psychologically huge”.

An injury-time strike by substitute Odsonne Edouard ensured the Parkhead club beat Hearts 2-1 at Tynecastle and maintained their eight point lead over Rangers at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership.

Lennon, who has taken over on an temporary basis until the end of the season after Rodgers joined Leicester City on Tuesday, was disappointed Ollie Bozanic cancelled out James Forrest’s goal in the second-half after the home team had been reduced to 10 men with Jamie Brandon’s sending off.

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However, the Northern Irishman, who took his place in the dugout in Gorgie despite only meeting his players an hour before they got on the bus to Edinburgh, was overjoyed at the result in his first match back in charge.

“I’m ecstatic,” he said. “It’s a great win at a difficult place under the circumstances. You never stop believing with this group that they might make something happen. I can’t knock the players. The mentality is absolutely brilliant and I can’t fault them tonight. It’s a brilliant win and psychologically huge.

“I’m not going to be critical of the team tonight. It’s been a really difficult couple of days for them. They lost Brendan then there was a quick turnaround. That’s not easy for them. They covered themselves in glory again tonight.

“I only met them as a group an hour before we left for the hotel. They’re alright now, they’re in good spirits now, so I’m delighted. I am so happy for the fans. It’s been a really tough couple of days for the players and also for the supporters."

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Lennon admitted he had been apprehensive before the game. “ It was an emotional night for myself,” he said. “It was really nerve-wracking beforehand. Knots in the stomach, that type of stuff, because you don’t want to let people down.

"In the end, it’s a great relief and a lot of joy, but it’s only one game and there’s still a long, long way to go. But, psychologically for me, it’s a huge step forward.”

Celtic conceded a goal in the second-half after Kristoffer Ajer was caught in possession after a pass from goalkeeper Scott Bain inside his penalty box. Lennon admitted he may alter the game plan that his predecessor Rodgers advocated in the coming days.

READ MORE: Injury-time Odsonne Edouard strike secures Celtic win over Hearts

“I’d like to stop that [playing ball out from back] because we were lucky first-half when we were inviting pressure and [Steven] Naismith flashed one wide,” he said. “

“We just gave encouragement we didn’t need to give and we were then sloppy for the penalty, but that’s the way they are. I can’t change that overnight and it may be a work in progress.

“We just gave Hearts a lifeline we didn’t need to give. We didn’t lose control of the game, but we gave them something to hang onto and we didn’t need to do that."

Craig Levein, the Hearts manager, admitted he had been disappointed to concede so late on, but praised his players for their display and predicted they will get their rewards for their efforts if they keep performing so well.

“It can be a cruel game at times,” he said. “To lose it when I felt we had coped with just about everything Celtic threw at us was difficult to take. Give some credit to Celtic, kept going right to the end and managed to nick the win.

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“The players were so diligent in defending. Yes, Celtic had opportunities but not really clear cut opportunities. The defence and goalkeeper played well, apart from the last seconds.

“At moments like this, we try to take the positives. And we take confidence into the next run of fixtures. I told them after the game that, if we do all the things we did tonight on a weekly basis, we will get our rewards.

“You don’t always get what you deserve. But the commitment, the running, the diligence in defending apart from that one moment, all of those things were good. If we get that in the coming weeks, we’ll be fine.”

Levein took Steven Naismith off at half-time because the Scotland striker was complaining about a sore knee and confirmed he will have the player assessed by Hearts medical staff in the coming days.