IN Neil Lennon's book, it's a tired old excuse – and one he is not prepared to give house room.

Not just yet, anyway.

Celtic have completed their 50th game of the season. And they brought up the half-ton in the most dramatic fashion with a fightback against Aberdeen which gave them a 4-3 victory thanks to a last-gasp winner from Georgios Samaras.

The result not only restored their 15-point lead at the top of the SPL, but took them to within seven of retaining their title and booking a place in next season's Champions League qualifiers.

The long road to the group stage will kick off on July 16, which ensures another epic campaign for Lennon's Bhoys – in length, at any rate.

But with this season now in the final lap – a maximum of nine games to go, if they reach the Scottish Cup final on May 26 – the manager is not prepared to accept fatigue was a factor in the patchwork quilt of a performance which almost saw them lose three-in-a-row in the league.

He is very much old-school, and believes that strength of character can keep any feeling of tiredness at bay.

"I can't use physical tiredness as an excuse for Saturday because they had a free week before the game," reasoned the Hoops boss.

"We also finished the game very strongly, with three goals in the last 22 minutes, so I didn't see any physical fatigue out there."

Lennon had criticised the lack of men in his team when they came back from Turin to lose a 2-0 lead at Dingwall against Ross County.

But when the chips were down against the Dons, they showed they had the character required to dig deep when it was most needed.

And Lennon reflected: "That pleased me more than anything, really.

"We let the game get away from us when he should not have done. We should have been superior to Aberdeen in all areas.

"But right through the team on Saturday, we had four or five looking really below-par."

He would like nothing better than to have the opportunity to rectify that on the training pitches at Lennoxtown before they play their next game.

But they will again be under-populated for the next two weeks as yet another international break leaves the dressing room looking like a ghost town.

"I do not have the opportunity to work with the players because most of them are away," said Lennon.

"So, you just sit here hoping that they all come back fit."

It's an uneasy position he has been forced to adopt several times this season as World Cup qualifying campaigns have bitten deep into club fixture schedules.

The good news for Lennon, and every other club boss afflicted by this regular secondment of talent, is that this will be the final hiatus this season. After next midweek's games, the next internationals are not scheduled until the start of June, by which time the club season is finally over.

He tries to remain philosophical about it, accepting that, when you recruit international-class players, they are going to be called up for internationals.

But with a title so close to being clinched, it is, nevertheless, frustrating.

"You understand all of that when you sign players of this quality," said Lennon. "But it is a difficult period for me as a club manager.

"Mind you, it would have been a longer two weeks for me if we had not got a win against Aberdeen.

"So I was pretty happy about the way that the match ended.

"I have been waiting for this team producing a comeback like the one we saw on Saturday.

"Not that I want us to do it very often, but I wanted to see if they had it in them.

"And they showed lots of desire to get the points against Aberdeen."

Lennon continued: "To be fair, an international break never comes at a good time, but you have to accept it.

"And we only have ourselves to blame for being made to wait to get over the line in the title race because we lost our previous two SPL games.

"So I can't use this break as an excuse for the timing of winning the title or anything like that.

"We would like to be further clear, but we are not.

"The important thing was to win against Aberdeen after losing to Ross County and Motherwell in the league.

"The manner of it pleased me and displeased me, if you know what I mean.

"But, in the end, it was a good day."

A perfect illustration of all's well that ends well. And no-one who attended Celtic Park could complain about the value for money on offer as the goals flowed literally from start to finish.

Once again, they were spread around with Kris Commons, Charlie Mulgrew, Gary Hooper and, finally, super-sub Samaras all beating Jamie Langfield.

Lennon appreciates so many players chipping in, but always likes to see his main striker on the scoresheet.

He said: "Hooper got his customary goal to add to the one he scored at Dingwall, so I am pleased about that.

"But I felt that in the first half, with the possession we had, we were wasteful with it.

"It took a big effort in the last part of the game to get the win.

"I thought the fans were fantastic as well. The roar they gave when our second goal went in really spurred the players on.

"So it finished a good day and it was a big win for us.

"It keeps the gap over Motherwell at 15 points and we know that if we win our next two games we will be home and hosed."

In fact, unless Motherwell drop points against Dundee or St Mirren, Celtic need two wins and a draw to get over the finishing line, though their goal difference is so superior that it's virtually worth an extra point to them.

But Lennon has two quiet weeks in which to do the math on that one.