LENNY ‘BANS’ SORO

NEIL LENNON has ‘banned’ Ivorian midfielder Ismaila Soro – from the kitchen!

The all-action anchorman has made an eye-catching start to his Hoops career after making his debut in the 3-2 Europa League Group H triumph over Lille at Parkhead earlier this month.

Soro, who arrived in a £2million switch in January, kept his position with Scott Brown on the sidelines for the 2-0 victory over Kilmarnock – helping the champions to their first clean sheet in nine games.

The 22-year-old was backed to keep the position for the delayed Scottish Cup Final against Hearts at Hampden, but a bout of food poisoning created selection problems for Lennon as he prepared his squad on their way to a world record of twelve successive domestic honours.

The Hoops gaffer, speaking to the Daily Record, said: “Soro’s English isn’t great although it’s getting better. He’s French-speaking, so he can talk to some of the boys, but he did take time to adjust.

“He’s living on his own over here and we had to take our time with him, but he has done really well in the last few games and he gets better as matches go on.

“His passing is crisp, he covers the ground well and he dovetailed well with Callum McGregor.

“He’s a happy lad. He always has a smile on his face and he’s enjoying it.

“We couldn’t start him last Sunday because he came down with food poisoning on Saturday night. He had sickness and diarrhoea the night before, although he felt better in the morning.

“I told him he isn’t allowed to cook again. He must eat in the canteen!

“Soro still has to mature a bit in that sense, but he will learn.”

There is a chance of another outing for the youngster against Hamilton Accie today as Scotland’s title kings go in pursuit of three more crucial points as they bid for a historic tenth title.

* DON’T miss the unbeatable match report from Hamilton Accies v Celtic this afternoon – only in your champion CQN.