NEIL LENNON insists his players deserve great credit for their remarkable consistency in recent years.
A spectacular sequence of success has brought a phenomenal treble treble achievement while Celtic have won ELEVEN consecutive trophies during their domination of the domestic game.
The Hoops are also two encounters away from the possibility of a truly astounding quadruple treble with a Scottish Cup semi-final against Aberdeen – held over from last season due to the coronavirus lockdown – due at the start of next month.
A victory at Hampden will earn a place in the December 20 Cup Final against either Hibs or Hearts who play their last-four tie 24 hours ahead of the holders at the national stadium on October 31.
Lennon, as ever, is refusing to look too far into the future and his immediate focus is on the Premiership visit of Steven Gerrard’s Ibrox outfit to the east end of Glasgow on Saturday afternoon.
Serie A cracks AC Milan follow that with the opening Europa League group confrontation at Parkhead a week tonight and then there is a precarious trip to Pittodrie to take on Derek McInnes’ Dons and then a trip to Lille for the second European tie.
Lennon, speaking to this week’s Celtic View, said: “This team is well equipped to handle the pressure. It’s remarkable when you look at these players’ consistency and that’s reflected in the trophy count over the years.
“Eleven trophies in a row, semi-final to come, domestically they are thriving, we’ve got a great draw in Europe and we’ve got AC Milan next week.
“The players have earned these big games because they’ve done all of the really hard work preceding them under immense scrutiny as well and they should be applauded for that.
“There’s more to come from them in terms of fluency in the way we play.
“I do feel that having no supporters in the stadium has an impact on that, but, in mental and temperament terms, they’ve been spot on.
“We’ve used the squad and that has worked out in our favour and we’ll need to continue doing so given the amount of call-offs we have had this week.
“However, to have so many exciting games on the horizon, that’s fantastic. I also think it is something that Celtic can offer players that some other clubs can’t, these huge games coming up.
“The players have earned the right to be there again in Europe and now they have the chance to increase the team’s, the club’s and their own profiles.
“These big games coming up really whet the appetite and the players should all be looking forward to them as much as we are.”
Meanwhile, Lennon will asses the players such as Scotland double-act Callum McGregor and Greg Taylor, who played in the 1-0 UEFA Nations League victory over the Czech Republic at Hampden last night, the Republic of Ireland’s Shane Duffy and Norway’s Kristoffer Ajer and Mohamed Elyounoussi as he prepares for Saturday’s 12.30pm kick-off.
It’s just as well the Celtic gaffer thrives on pressure!
