NEIL LENNON has warned against a rush to judgement over new Bhoy, Nir Biton.

The Celtic boss has backed the midfielder to find his feet with the club he joined at the end of the transfer window and soon begin to show the quality which has earned him a place in the Israeli national squad at just 21.

Lennon pointed out the man who signed from FC Ashdod has hardly had time to draw breath since finally getting his visa to begin his new career at Parkhead.

He came on as a sub against AC Milan in the San Siro just over 24 hours after joining up with the squad in Italy.

Biton then played the second half of the home win against St Johnstone last weekend before starting in the League Cup defeat to Morton on Tuesday.

Lennon insisted it is much too soon for anyone to make any kind of call on the player, and predicts he will soon get up to speed.

The manager said: "There is a lot more to come from him. He has only been here a week and it is too early to make any kind of rash judgements on him. We think he is a good player and that he will improve a helluva lot over the next few months."

Match fitness is still an issue for Biton, and Lennon is trying to ease him into the action.

"He was away with Israel for the fortnight before the Milan game and he didn't play, so he missed two weeks," Lennon told Celtic TV.

"Then he was given his visa and he joined us in Milan. Nir had a few minutes on the pitch, half the game at the weekend, then 120 minutes on Tuesday.

"It has been a bit congested for him, but there is no doubt he will feel the benefit of that as we go on."

Biton will remain in the squad for tomorrow's lunchtime kick-off against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.

But Lennon is expected to bring back the big guns who sat out the midweek cup defeat.

Kris Commons, Anthony Stokes, Georgios Samaras and Emilio Izaguirre are all back in contention to start, but James Forrest remains a notable absentee.

Lennon reported: "James is back from his virus, but he hasn't started training yet so I am hoping he will recover quickly over the next few days."

The manager has no regrets about the call he made when picking the side he went with against Morton and said: "I had to rotate it otherwise I run the risk of injury and fatigue."

Handing the opportunity to some fringe men to show what they could bring to the side did not bring the required result, and Lennon reflected: "I wanted it to be seamless, and they do maybe need more time and more games. But at a club like Celtic you don't always get that."

Now Lennon wants an immediate bounce back to ensure they retain joint-top spot with Inverness in the SPFL.

"We don't want to drop points between Champions League games," he reiterated as he looked ahead to the midweek visit of Barcelona.

"We have had a blip, I am looking forward to the reaction I am going to get because we need a good performance going into the game Tuesday."