Davie Hay names the one mistake he feels Celtic boss Neil Lennon made on Thursday night

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Celtic legend Davie Hay has spoken about the one mistake he feels Neil Lennon made in the Hoops’ disappointing Europa League elimination on Thursday night, in conversation with the Glasgow Evening Times.

The Bhoys slumped to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of FC Copenhagen at Parkhead in midweek, losing the round of 32 Europa League tie by a 4-2 margin on aggregate.

Michael Santos fired the hosts into a 1-0 half-time lead following some poor defending from Celtic, but Odsonne Edouard clipped home a penalty seven minutes from time.

However, Celtic were then struck twice, in the 85th and 88th minute, to end up meekly dropping out of the competition.

Celtic have had great success with a 3-5-2 shape recently, but Lennon reverted to a 4-2-3-1 formation against Copenhagen.

“Where Neil Lennon perhaps did make a mistake in my book was that he showed Copenhagen a little too much respect at Celtic Park,” Hay wrote in the Glasgow Evening Times.

“I can understand being cautious and going with one up front over there, but I thought that Celtic really missed the partnership between Leigh Griffiths and Odsonne Edouard up front on Thursday night, with the Frenchman cutting an isolated and ineffective figure for a lot of the evening.

“For me, the partnership has been working, and I feel that Celtic would have created even more opportunities had the manager shown faith in the 3-5-2 system that has worked so well for them since the winter break.”

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Although Celtic may be cruising domestically, their elimination in Europe – particularly when combined with their Glasgow rivals’ progress – is an immeasurable disappointment.

Admittedly the players didn’t put in the best performance, but the tactical decision to move Leigh Griffiths out of the team at the expense of a formation change and Mohamed Elyounoussi wasn’t a good call.

The free-flowing 3-5-2 Celtic of late were not able to show what they could do, and the decision to go down the 4-2-3-1 route seems baffling in hindsight.