Celtic boss Neil Lennon has apologised to St Johnstone counterpart Tommy Wright for discussing one his players but insists he was right to claim Perth striker Steven MacLean went down easily against the Hoops on Saturday.
Lennon’s men notched up a 2-1 win over Saints at Celtic Park, and survived a late penalty scare when MacLean hit the deck following a challenge by Anthony Stokes.
Referee Alan Muir waved away the St Johnstone appeals, while Lennon claimed MacLean “has a tendency to go down easy at times”.
That angered Wright, who felt Lennon a close friend should not be talking about his players.
But the Celtic boss said: “If I have annoyed Tommy and he’s a very good friend then I apologise to Tommy.
“We were talking about a specific incident in the game that may have changed the course of the game. I called it as I saw it. There was no offence meant.”
Lennon was unhappy with Stanley Menzo boss of Belgian outfit Lierse SK for criticising on-loan Hoops striker Tony Watt for his lack of fitness and work rate.
The Parkhead manager agreed that Watt still has to prove himself as a top-rate frontman, but insisted any criticism should have been kept in house.
“I haven’t seen Tony play for a while but the reason he has gone on loan is to get experience,” said Lennon. “He is a bit short of physical conditioning, but that is down to Tony himself.”
Celtic will kick-off their bid to land the Scottish League Cup for the first time since 2009 with a third-round tie against Morton at Parkhead. Lennon is desperate to land the only domestic trophy he has yet to win.
He said: “The League Cup was the first competition that I won as a player here and first I won as a captain, so it does have some significance for me personally.”