NEIL LENNON has looked at the stats, and knows the figures simply don't add up.

Delighted though the Celtic manager is with the contribution his midfield has made in the pursuit of the three domestic trophies, he believes they can deliver more.

And he points to the scorers' lists to prove his point.

Last season, a massive 55 goals were contributed by the men playing in the engine room of the Green Machine during their 52-game campaign.

This time around, after 35 matches across four different competitions, only 26 goals have been fired home by the midfield.

That's a drop in strike rate which does not sit easily with Lennon.

At the weekend, after James Forrest and Scott Brown stepped up to the plate to get the all-important goals to beat St Mirren, the captain revealed his curling cracker from the edge of the area was in response to the manager's demand he gets on the scoresheet for the first time this season.

Last term, Brown scored four times, including that memorable effort against Rangers at Ibrox, which left an appreciative Hoops' support 'doing the Broonie'.

The skipper's struggle to match last season's tally is mirrored by most of his midfield colleagues, with the odd exception.

With Gary Hooper and Anthony Stokes fighting it out to be top scorer and contributing 31 between them – Hooper is one ahead – Lennon is not unhappy with the conversion rate of the side as a whole.

But he still believes there is more of a return to be had from the supporting cast and said: "We can't rely on Gary and Anthony every week, and we do have goals in our midfield.

"Ki Sung-Yueng has goals in him. James Forrest does, too, as he showed again on Saturday.

"But so has Joe Ledley, and Kris Commons certainly has goals in him.

"Victor Wanyama has now weighed in with three decent goals. We need more of them chipping in, and we got that against St Mirren."

Lennon believes the core strength of his squad is their ability to support one another, whether it be in pursuit of goals, or keeping clean sheets.

He considers it an essential element of their make up that, when one player struggles, another steps in to take the strain.

Some players just keep delivering top-class performances, however, and Lennon puts skipper Brown in that bracket.

Stepping forward to score goals like the one he scored at St Mirren Park propels him to the consciousness of the fans.

But Lennon admits he is a man who can often be overlooked because he is so consistent.

"I totally agree," said the manager, who often found himself in the same situation when he was a Celtic player.

"And, if anyone can't see what he brings to the team, well, it was all there on Saturday. I thought he was huge for us, along with Victor Wanyama and Gary Hooper, who had a brilliant game.

"Before the match, I challenged Scott, and said to him, 'Look, come on, you need to get on the score sheet'.

"Whether he had scored or not, his performance was fantastic.

"So, to cap it off with a beautiful goal made it a great day for him."

The 12th straight SPL win allowed Celtic to head into their cup commitments riding high in the table.

Given the momentum they have built up in the championship, it might be considered unfortunate that the League Cup and Scottish Cup now intervene.

But Lennon said: "We don't mind this break from the league at this time because we want to win all of the competitions.

"We have a big game at Hampden on Sunday which I think all of the players are looking forward to."

The Scottish Communities League Cup semi-final against Falkirk brings a different kind of pressure as Celtic are expected to ease past the First Division side and get one hand on a trophy which Rangers wrenched from their grasp last season.

But Lennon does not anticipate any difficulty motivating his men and said: "They lost the final last year, and I think they want to go back there and put that right.

"Plus it is one third of the chance to win three trophies. If you can get over the line with the first one, it sets the season up lovely.

"But there are still one or two difficult games to go before we can do that."

Lennon has had Falkirk watched, and knows the threat that Steven Pressley's promotion challengers – who have already eliminated Rangers from this competition – pose.

Attitude more than ability will be key for Celtic in this game, as it will when they head to Inverness the following weekend for the William Hill Scottish Cup tie.

Lennon is confident his players are now well accustomed to dealing with tricky opposition in cup ties away from Celtic Park.

"I have only had one cup tie at home in my time in charge of the club, and, ironically, it was against Inverness in the League Cup at the start of last season (which they won 6-0)."

This season, they have already had to play in the alien environs of Dingwall and Peterhead, and Lennon considers it is all character-building.

"The players showed on Saturday, in atrocious conditions against a really good outfit, that they can dig in and that there is a hunger about them," he said.

"I can't speak highly enough of them at the minute."