Daryl Murphy would love it if Neil Lennon managed to persuade Liam Lawrence join him at Parkhead. Much will depend on the Aiden McGeady-Spartak Moscow situation but Murphy expects his former Sunderland team-mate to deliver the goods if he arrives. McGeady has already bid farewell to his Celtic team-mates and it appears to be just be a case of dotting 'i's and crossing 't's before he heads east. Murphy accepts that any team would miss McGeady's trickery. However, he feels Republic of Ireland team-mate Lawrence could add something different to the team. Summer signing Murphy said: I know Liam from my time at Sunderland and he's a very good player. He will give a bit of balance on the right side of midfield. He's a hard worker and is a very good at deliveries, and pops up with a lot of goals. There are a lot of names being linked with the club, but if it was to come off it would be a very good signing. They are two totally different players. Aiden can go past people at will. Liam gets the ball and crosses the ball, which is sometimes what you need when you're in the box. But of course, Aiden will be a huge loss if he does end up going."
Lennon, meanwhile, sees Paddy McCourt having a similar impact on matches as the Russia-bound winger if he can achieve and maintain a decent level of fitness. The Northern Ireland international scored several goals last term after being virtually anonymous in his injury-hit first season at Parkhead. McCourt has only started five Celtic matches but he recently signed a new three-year contract and Murphy is in no doubt he can help soften the blow of losing. He said: "I've always known of his ability. I played against him a few years ago in the under-21s. And when I was playing in the League of Ireland, he was playing for Shamrock Rovers. Everyone knew about his ability, people would talk about it. Since I've been training with him, you can see it's there. He's been unfortunate with injuries since he came here but he looks to be flying in training and touch wood he keeps injury-free. He has got everything you need in a player. Sometimes you just stand back and admire his skill because you don't realise how skilful he is until you actually train with him. If he keeps fit and gets a good run of games, I'm sure he will be a quality player for us."
Daryl Murphy would love it if Neil Lennon managed to persuade Liam Lawrence join him at Parkhead. Much will depend on the Aiden McGeady-Spartak Moscow situation but Murphy expects his former Sunderland team-mate to deliver the goods if he arrives. McGeady has already bid farewell to his Celtic team-mates and it appears to be just be a case of dotting '