Neil Lennon today revealed "ill-will" is blowing through the Celtic dressing room after the champions discovered the nominees for the SPFA Player of the Year award.

Not one Hoops star made it on to the shortlist for the main prize – as voted by players.

Motherwell's Michael Higdon, Hibs' Leigh Griffiths, Aberdeen's Niall McGinn and Inverness Caley's Andrew Shinnie are the contenders for the gong, last won by anyone outwith the Old Firm in 1990.

Victor Wanyama is in contention for the Young Player award, along with Griffiths and Dundee United pair, Gary Mackay-Steven and Stuart Armstrong.

But the Celtic boss has claimed the voting undermines what his team have achieved in the Champions League this season, describing it as a 'smack in the face'.

"Don't start me on that," said Lennon when asked about it. "It beggars belief. We make the semi-final of the League Cup, get to the final of the Scottish Cup, win the Championship, make the last 16 in Europe, we beat Barcelona, we beat Spartak Moscow and put the country on the map once again as far as Scottish football is concerned.

"I think the outcome of those votes yesterday belittles all those efforts from the players. It is abysmal.

"Are people voting for the best player in Scotland or the most improved player in Scotland?

"There is a huge difference and that is not taking anything away from the candidates who were nominated.

"They have all had fine seasons but to not have one Celtic player in that top group is unbelievable.

"I have no idea how the voting goes but you can't tell me that Fraser Forster, Wanyama, Kris Commons, Gary Hooper and Kelvin Wilson weren't in the forefront of people's minds when the votes were being made. It’s ridiculous.

"After the outcome yesterday there is a lot of ill-will in the dressing room. The players are very disappointed.

"They have performed heroically.

"We had to contend with a really early European campaign, under a lot of pressure.

"After we came through that no-one gave the players a prayer.

"We got 10 points (in the group stage) – no Scottish team has ever broken the 10-point barrier – and they stayed strong domestically. It takes a lot to do that.

"For all their efforts and putting Scottish football on that map, it is a smack in the face for them.

"How would you feel if you were in that dressing room? There was a lot of anger and bewilderment there yesterday and I  can totally understand that."

The Hoops boss also revealed that Celtic looked at last night's Champions League star Robert Lewandowski when he was at Polish club Lech Poznan a few years ago.

The Borussia Dortmund striker netted four goals against Spanish giants Real Madrid in the Champions League, but Lennon admitted that even a few years back he was slightly too expensive for the Hoops.

He said: "We looked at him a few years ago, but we were never seriously in the running for him.

"I think his price might have gone up a fair bit since then."