Lennon out for Celtic gauge

Celtic boss Neil Lennon will evaluate where his team is at when they meet Serie A giants Inter Milan in the Dublin Super Cup.

The Scottish Premier League side have already started their 2011/12 campaign, beating Hibernian 2-0 in the opening round of matches and having had their meeting with Dunfermline Athletic postponed to participate in the two-day tournament in Dublin.

They will meet Inter on the opening day before a clash with Airtricity XI, which is a collection of the best players in the League of Ireland.

Lennon – who took his men to Australia as part of the pre-season programme – said he would use the test against Gian Piero Gasperini’s team to monitor his side’s progress.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for us to gauge where we are in terms of comparisons with the calibre of team of Inter Milan,” he said on Friday.

“We feel that Europe is important, not just to the club but to the players and the backroom staff, including myself, as part of our development.”

Celtic will begin their Europa League campaign on August 18 when they enter the qualification stages of the competition in the play-off round.

Their next league game is at Aberdeen on August 7.