CELTIC legend Davie Hay insists there is less pressure on Neil Lennon to win 10 in a row than there is on Steven Gerrard to stop it.
The former player and manager was part of Wim Jansen’s set-up when they prevented Walters Smith’s Ibrox side from achieving the feat in season 1997/98.
Hay left the club in the run-in to a momentous campaign after a fall-out with general manager Jock Brown, who was later sacked, but was pivotal to the Hoops bringing in Henrik Larsson and Harald Brattbakk, the players who scored the goals to beat St Johnstone 2-0 on the final day of the season.
Those strikes in each half made certain the Parkhead side had ended a decade in the title wilderness and the crown was heading back to Paradise.
The 72-year-old club ambassador, speaking to the Scottish Sun, said: “Neil will be determined to do it as will the players and, of course, the fans will want it.
“But I think there’s more pressure on Steven Gerrard to stop it.
“It’s not unlike the year Celtic had to stop it and I was there the early part of that season.
“There is a bit of pressure on Celtic, from the fans sake and the history of it. But there’s definitely more on Steven Gerrard to stop it.”
Hay added: “The intensity of the Celtic-Rangers game hasn’t changed since my time.
“They play more often now. In my day it was twice in the league and the odd Cup game. Now it’s at least four times a season.
“And it’s not just Glasgow, it’s worldwide, the intensity of it is the same.”
The Hoops are preparing for the record-breaking tilt at 10 after being awarded No.9 by the SPFL bosses after football went into cold storage in mid-March with the Hoops 13 points ahead with only eight games to play.
Lennon’s men were frustrated they could not celebrate the success on the pitch – and they aim to make up for that next time around.
