Derek McInnes reckons Neil Lennon can have the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer effect on Celtic as the interim Hoops manager bids to deliver the league and cups treble the Parkhead faithful expect.

Brendan Rodgers may have departed the reigning Premiership champions, but McInnes insists the club is lucky to have their former manager back.

McInnes, desperate to retain the second spot they’ve claimed in the last four successive campaigns, admitted he was shocked that Rodgers took off for Leicester City and initially surprised when Lennon was recruited to fill the gap till the end of the season.

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But after analysing the move back into the manager’s chair at Parkhead, he felt it made perfect sense and that Celtic are fortunate Lennon was available.

With Solskjaer having breathed new life into Manchester United, both domestically and in Europe, as a stand-in replacement for sacked Jose Mourinho, the Aberdeen manager takes the view that there are parallels with Lennon returning to the club where he won honours as a player and coach.

“I wasn’t totally surprised once I’d digested it all,” McInnes said. “Lenny has spoken about how it’s been a privilege for him and how fortunate he is to be back in the position as Celtic manager. “But, equally, Celtic have the same fortune that Neil was available. If Neil had still been the Hibs manager, it might have been more difficult to go and do.

“The fact that Neil was out of work, it’s good to see that he’s had the opportunity to go back to a club that he served so well.

“A new manager might have come in with different ideas and who didn’t know the club. That might have just complicated it a bit more than was required.

“They’ve got is a guy who knows the club inside out and won things there and knows what it takes to deal with that. I’m sure that Lenny will be doing all he can to justify coming back.

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“The disappointment of the Celtic support with Brendan leaving maybe hasn’t been as extreme because Lennon has come back in and got results. The positive of Lenny coming in has helped overcome the disappointment of Brendan leaving.”

McInnes is convinced Celtic appointed Lennon on a temporary basis but hoping he could win the treble and become permanently in charge.

“We’ve seen it at Manchester United with Solskjaer,” he said. “He’s somebody who is so saturated within the Manchester United way of working, it’s seen to be easy for him to go in and get that club going the right way again.

“The only difference is that Celtic weren’t in a bad place. The similarities are that Neil knows Celtic, the way Solskjaer knows Manchester United, and he knows how things operate in there and how important it is dealing with that size of club. I’m pretty sure that if Celtic finish the season the way they want to, then Neil would be in pole position for the job.”