NEIL LENNON saluted his Celtic team after the 2-0 victory over Aberdeen yesterday – but insisted there is still work to be done.
The Parkhead side will now meet Hearts in the Scottish Cup Final at Hampden on December 20 where they can make stupendous history by completing the phenomenal quadruple treble.
After some fierce and over-the-top criticism of the manager and his players after going four games without a win while conceding 10 goals, praise is now being showered on the champions after their fine performance against the Dons.
A spectacular goal from Ryan Christie in the 18th minute was swiftly followed by another from Mohamed Elyounoussi to cement cemented a good, all-round performance against a side that had gone into the encounter on an unbeaten run and who had twice led against the Glasgow giants in the 3-3 league draw at Pittodrie the previous week.
The Celtic boss, though, is not getting carried away amid the sudden U-turn in fortunes.
Lennon, speaking to BBC Radio Scotland, said: “The players have been very good confidence-wise and in terms of unity within the group.
“You saw all that on this occasion. I’ve seen it this week in the performances and I believe a lot of it was blown out of proportion, but you get that in this day and age.
“They’ve handled all the accusations or criticism very well and they’ve come back and answered a lot of questions.
“They’ll continue to do that, I’ve no doubt about that.
“We’ve lost one league game and we lost to AC Milan who are a cracking side, but the squad was weakened with Covid and injuries.
“We understood that. I’m not saying we’ve turned a corner, we just keep going and play the kind of football we want to play.
“There have been really good signs of that.”
Reflecting on the well-merited victory over Derek McInnes’ Pittodrie outfit, Lennon added: “The players are buzzing, it’s an amazing achievement if we can do it, one more game to go.
“It’s going to be difficult, Hearts produced a great performance and result against Hibs.
“These players, their focus and desire is one of the best I’ve ever seen. Achieving greatness as they go along, that gets overlooked at times.
“I’m really proud of them and the fans should be proud of them, too.”
CHRISTIE CRACKIER, MOI MAGIC AS HISTORY BECKONS
