They huffed and they puffed and finally Odsonne Edouard was the man to blow Dundee’s house down.

If this was a laboured and turgid display from Celtic for the 95 minutes that went before the Frenchman’s winner, his 18th goal of the season, then the winning goal burst the dam in terms of the relief and the puncturing of pressure that had built up around a pent-up Neil Lennon in the dug-out.

The interim Celtic manager has looked a different beast at points in his second time around the Parkhead dugout; more subdued, more measured, a little calmer. As James Forrest cut the ball back and Edouard picked his spot, Lennon’s mature mask slipped.

Off he went, haring down the touchline to the corner flag in front of the visiting support housed inside the Bob Shankly stand to take full part in the vociferous celebrations. The goal takes Celtic ten points clear at the top of the table following Rangers’ draw with Kilmarnock on Saturday afternoon, a cushion that effectively dispels any doubts about Celtic’s progression towards an eight successive title.

And given the circumstances with which Lennon took over the reigns following Brendan Rodgers’ shock departure, the Celtic manager has acknowledged that the pressure around his post has been intensified by the almost unblemished record that Rodgers left for him.

“It’s relief, it’s emotion,” he said by way of explanation after the game. “It’s the importance of the goal. It’s not easy coming in at this stage with the way things are and following in someone’s shoes and taking on the reins of a style of play you are not used to with different players.

“I’ve had to address that bit by bit and what you saw at the end there was just relief at getting the win.

“It’s a totally different pressure here. You’re not going into a club that’s been struggling or the atmosphere has been bad. It’s been on the up here for the last two and a half years and a great manager has walked out the door. It’s been a difficult period but it’s also been an education.”

In truth, the result was harsh on a Dundee side who had successfully frustrated Celtic for long periods. Indeed, as the minutes started to tick away the Parkhead side had retorted to shelling long balls straight into the box that came out as quickly as they went in.

Such is the precarious nature of such afternoons, the irony was that Martin Woods could have won the game for Dundee before Celtic went up the park to score the winner. With Celtic committed to players in attack, Woods broke clear but despite having options, he took a tame shot that Scott Bain dealt with fairly comfortably. The same player was then complicit a minute later when he gifted possession to Scott Brown and Celtic were on their way to turning the narrative entirely on its head.

It was Brown who got the ball to the feet of Forrest and the combination between the Scotland internationalist and the striker bore fruit for Celtic.

And if there were faults in much of the lethargic performance, Lennon was quick to emphasis that the Parkhead side got what they came for.

“I’m looking at us and thinking we were not doing what we have been doing in training,” said Lennon. “We were not as sharp or as snappy and our final ball and our set play delivery was disappointing. That may down to fatigue, mental and physical, but I can’t have everything. We got what we set out to do today.”

In essence delivering an eighth successive title is the only remit that Lennon has to concern with. Yet, all season there have been signs from this Celtic team that there is surgery required over the summer months. The lack of spark in the middle of the park gives Celtic a pedestrian look and emphasis the manner in which the likes of Ryan Christie and Callum McGregor injected some creativity in there.

Scott Sinclair might have had a first-half penalty when he looked to be tugged back in the box while there was also a Forrest volley from the edge of the box that was inadvertently blocked by Scott Brown

McGregor made his return from injury and played the full 90 minutes but the decision to give Mikey Johnston the role just behind Edouard was one that never quite seemed to pay off.

The opening period was turgid and flat and set the tone for almost the entirety of what followed.

It brought the jubilant scenes at the whistle into sharp contrast with the bulk of what had come before.

And for Dundee manager Jim McIntyre, the six minutes of added time and the nature of the defeat made the fact that there remains just a point between the Dens Park side and St Mirren at the bottom of the table all the harder to take.

And while McIntyre questioned the added time - both Kristoffer Ajer and Darren O’Dea had been treated at different times for head knocks - he was reluctant to use that as the excuse for losing the game.

“I fail to see where six minutes came from,” he said. “I thought that was too much added time. Having said that, that’s not the reason we lost. We had a great opportunity on the counter-attack with two minutes to go and we’ve got to be better.

“That’s the reason we are where we are.”