by Colin Orr at Celtic Park

ST MIRREN boss Danny Lennon admits a nightmare start left him ripping up his gameplan as Celtic cruised to victory at Parkhead today.

Joe Ledley's sixth-minute opener thwarted the Buddies boss's plan to frustrate and contain the hosts, who went on to blow St Mirren away and run out 4-0 winners.

The margin of victory could easily have been greater but Lennon was quick to emphasise his side's misfortune at catching the Parkhead team as they hit top gear.

He said: "We've caught them on a very good day today. Everything we spoke about prior to the game, we did the opposite of in the first five minutes.

"We gave them the dream start and that not just gave the players a lift but the fans too. We tried to go out with a gameplan to frustrate them but they picked up where they left off on Thursday.

"Two of the goals were very disappointing from any point of view, never mind losing them at Celtic Park. But we're not going to come up against that kind of quality every week.

"Their mobility was second to none and from a footballing point of view it was thrilling to watch, although it was not nice to be on the end of it.

"The positive I take is I got every ounce out of the players, we've got Craig Dargo back and two of the youngsters got dream debuts.

"After today, we've got Higdon and McGowan back and maybe one or two others by the end of the week, although that's not taking anything away from the kids that have come in."

Saints were lucky to only be two down at the break after a first half which saw Celtic hit the woodwork three times.

But Lennon says a half-time reshuffle helped limit the damage - although he did feel Celtic's two late goals were cheaply conceded.

He said: "There was no injury to David van Zanten. They were causing us a lot of problems down that side and I felt when McAusland went on and we went to 3-5-2 we consolidated.

"We were trying to get information on to them in the first half because they were giving us a torrid time down the outsides. They were like trains going down there.

"After half-time I thought we thwarted their goalscoring opportunities to a minimum. They still had a lot of possession but it didn't hurt us as much and everything was side to side.

"But to lose the third was a bad one as we were consolidating at that stage. I thought Lynch could have put the ball into the corner rather than play a short one.

"And for the fourth one, it was a wonderful strike but I felt we switched off and needed more pressure on the ball."

Lennon also confirmed he is still waiting on an answer from striker Alan Gow, who has been in signing talks with the Buddies boss over a possible switch to Paisley.

He said: "There is no secret I've had a couple of meetings with Alan Gow and I know he was at the game today, so hopefully he's seen us at our worst and it's not put him off!

"There are a few clubs chasing him but we've pulled out all the stops to get a quality player like that in."

Meanwhile, Lennon's Celtic counterpart Neil was delighted with the result and performance from his side.

He said: "Our attacking was breath-taking at times. That's what we're looking for. We've got energy and quality and although we can't play like that all the time, it's good to get the tempo up.

"Last Thursday (against Utrecht) was a different game against different quality opposition in a different environment.

"I said to them to concentrate at half-time as the next goal was important and if we lost it we would let St Mirren back in."

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