Shaun Maloney says the Celtic dressing room is behind Neil Lennon becoming permanent manager.

Lennon is expected to be handed the job in the coming days.

Maloney, fit again after another gut-wrenching injury spell and desperate to prove his worth in pre-season, told the Scottish Sun: "If Neil does get the job he's someone that as a player I had a lot of respect for and I look forward to trying to prove that I am good enough to be in his team.

"I didn't work for him in the last nine games of the season due to my injury, I've just been able to train.

"But, obviously, with his record in the league games it was something he was doing right. That's obviously why his name has been strongly linked with getting the job full-time. I'm sure that football intelligence can help Neil.

"As a manager there will be completely different things that he'll have, or need, to be successful, but his intelligence should hold him in good stead. With what he did at the club it helps straight away, he has that respect from the start. That can only be a good thing.

"I just think he was a very underrated player. That sticks out for me as a memory of Neil as a team-mate. Everyone in the team knew what his job was. It might not have been that pretty, but I think he was a lot more intelligent as a player than he got credit for.

"He could read where the passes were going to the front players, that's what made him very good at his position. I think that probably stands out.

"He might have been slightly underrated outside the team, but within it I know that the mainstays of the team at that time were very respectful of what he did."