Jozo Simunovic has insisted that the Celtic players want Neil Lennon to get the Parkhead job on a full-time basis after leading the club to within one game of an historic treble treble.
The Croatian defender partnered Kristoffer Ajer at the heart of Celtic’s defence but was advanced enough during the game that he could have bagged a hat-trick.
And as Celtic eased into the Scottish Cup final with a comfortable 3-0 win at the expense of Aberdeen, Simunovic has voiced his support for Lennon to assume permanent control this summer.
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“Things are going really well. It is all good,” he said. “But it’s not just me, I think other players want it to happen.
“This situation just keeps going well and we’re going to see. But there are some things the players can’t decide, that is for others. We are going to give everything to play well and get more results.
“Then we’ll see what they’re going to decide. But, I would say all players are happy at the moment with the coaching staff.”
And Simunovic credited his own confident performance from the support he has had on a personal basis from the support he has had from the interim Celtic manager.
“How I played today I think is me,” he said. “Some things have changed since the new manager’s come in and I feel okay. That was the most important thing for me and I just need to keep going.
“The manager has a strong belief in me. That does a lot, you can see from today how it feels for me.
“I would say it’s always important for players to have a manager who believes in you. That’s very simple. I’m not saying anything about Brendan. But I just want to say that Neil believes in all of us, not just in me.
“Some of the other boys had an amazing performance today and we are going in the right way.”
And Simunovic is looking to consolidate his place in the team between now and the end of the season.
“I’m very happy,” he said. “I felt good today and I had some chances to score, but in the end they didn’t prove crucial. I know I could’ve had a hat-trick – next time there will be goals!
“But, of course, I am happier with our clean sheet. They had only one shot on the target.
“It has gone well since Brendan Rodgers left and we just have to keep up our performances until the end of the season. We still have big games left including, of course, the final. We can be better, I believe in that.
“From our side we did everything well today. Even without the red cards I think we would’ve won. We believed right from the start.”
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