SPL challengers ‘are not going to go away easily’, insists Neil Lennon

Celtic are scheduled to play eight league games before the first leg of their highly-anticipated last-16 clash with Juventus. Already four points clear in the Scottish Premier League having played a game less than their rivals, there are many who now expect Celtic to take further command of the situation at the top of the SPL. While this is also Lennon’s objective, he is alert to the challenge posed by opponents who are keen to give little away to the champions.

He conceded that he does want to ensure there is some “daylight” between Celtic and their nearest rivals come the middle of February, when Champions League fever will be fiercely felt again in Parkhead. “It is eight weeks away,” said Lennon, with reference to the first clash with the Italian side. “We have got plenty of time before then to think about things.  We have got a four-game burst before the winter break and I want to try and win them all.”

Ross County, who visit Celtic Park this afternoon for the first time on league duty, were the first side to take points from Celtic this season when they drew 1-1 in Dingwall in August. While he knows his side have fallen short on occasion during the present campaign, Lennon is grateful for the test others have presented. According to Lennon, poor results before and after big European clashes cannot be solely attributed to a ‘Champions League syndrome’. Instead, he prefers to hand opposition teams at least some of the credit.

“People can throw anything at the SPL that they like,” he said yesterday. “They criticise it when it suits them, but it has not done us any harm. We are in the last 16. We have been well prepared for all of the games.

“Physically, the boys are in great condition and obviously when you are winning games you can go into the next one in a confident vein of form. There is no doubt that during the [Champions League] campaign they had one eye on the games, but now they can fully focus on the SPL. They haven’t had it easy in the SPL. It is alright me saying they have had one eye on it, but teams have made it really hard for us at times.”

The manager is aware that although sides other than Celtic have struggled to string together a run of results during the current campaign, teams such as Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Aberdeen are “not going to go away easily”. Lennon’s players have been reminded time and time again of the need to be at their best in the league and Ross County, he predicts, “will make it stodgy for us again”.

The visit of the Highlanders does illustrate the contrasting worlds Celtic must inhabit at present. Scott Brown had to quickly switch from fielding questions about Andrea Pirlo to answering ones on Rocco Quinn, the Ross County player probably unused to being mentioned in almost the same breath as the world-class midfielder, although Quinn does at least have some Italian heritage, too.

Brown, of course, is preparing to test himself again against Pirlo, who he enjoyed tussling with when Celtic faced AC Milan in the Champions League five years ago. He has also faced the artful Pirlo for Scotland against Italy. “Pirlo is right up there with anyone I have played with,” he said. “He is the one who gets  everyone ticking and his vision on the ball, his passing, is second to none.” The Celtic midfielder could be the one asked to contain Pirlo, or at least try to ensure that he is little more ruffled than is normally the case. “You have to get round about him and stop him playing because he is their main man,” he agreed. “He starts everything. If we can try to stop him and press them high up the park, we have a chance. But, if we let him have a lot of space to do pretty much whatever he wants, then it’s not going to be the best situation for us.”

These are worries for another day, of course. Ross County will likely prove a menacing enough threat as Celtic seek to turn Parkhead into a formidable place to visit again in the league. This has not been quite so evident this season, with both Inverness and Kilmarnock having left with three points. “When I was at Hibs, this is what we used to look forward to,” said Brown of visits to Parkhead. “We always seemed to turn up against Rangers and Celtic, then we’d get beaten against Dundee United and Dunfermline. People used to say we were a good team, but the really good teams keep winning games. That is what we need to do now.”

Meanwhile, Ross County manager Derek Adams feels the lack of expectation on his team could help them get a result. “It’s one of those games where no-one is expecting you to do well, but we are going to go there to try to win the game.”