Neil Lennon believes this could be Paddy McCourt's breakthrough season at Celtic after watching the 25-year-old light up the friendly win at Cork City.

Irish playmaker McCourt scored a stunning solo goal in Wednesday night's 1-0 victory at Turner's Cross Stadium which saw Lennon take charge of the team.

Reserve team coach Lennon told his club's official website, www.celticfc.net: "He's a maverick really and some of the stuff he does with a ball is tremendous. He does things off the cuff and his goal showed that."

He added: "He's a talented boy and he can only get better. Paddy is still learning the game at the professional level but he is a stand-out player at times. There is no doubt about that.

"How far can he go? That's up to Paddy really. If he keeps progressing the way he is, then he'll do well. He's already caught the manager's eye and he has come off the bench a few times this season."

While McCourt stole the show in Cork, there were other real positives for Celtic, with Barry Robson and Mark Wilson both completing 90 minutes, while Jason Marr played the second half on his return from injury.

Youth defender Declan Gallacher also had an excellent debut.

Lennon said: "It was a great exercise for the likes of Barry, who really needed 90 minutes, and Jason Marr - who is just coming back from a long injury as well. The younger players will also take a lot out of it.

"I thought we were excellent in the first half but we made six changes to give everyone a game and that sort of disrupted the rhythm a bit. But Cork gave as good as they got in the second half.

"I was impressed with Cork. There's a lot of talent in Ireland and scouts are flocking over all the time. We have a few Irish lads in the squad and we'll keep coming over because I think it's important that we have players from this part of the world coming through the ranks."