Lennon relishing another journey into the lion’s den

EVER since his first appearance there as a player, Ibrox has been the lion’s den as far as Neil Lennon is concerned. Like Daniel of biblical lore, Lennon enters the arena without fear of the hostility which awaits him.

He will relish it again tomorrow afternoon, leading his Celtic side across Glasgow for the first Old Firm game of the season at a stadium he freely admits is one of his favourites.

But if there is any hint of trepidation on Lennon’s part ahead of his latest foray into the lair of his club’s greatest rivals, it is prompted by his belief Rangers may be carrying the demeanour of wounded animals on this occasion.

Lennon feels the Scottish champions’ problems off the field, which will be mocked mercilessly by the Celtic support as they revel in the HMRC case currently casting a dark cloud over Ibrox, may galvanise Ally McCoist’s players when the action gets underway.

“I wouldn’t think what’s been happening will have an adverse effect on them,” said Lennon. “It might even be an added motivation for their players. Almost as if they say, ‘Look, we might have difficulties off the pitch, but on it we’re fine’.

“In terms of us, we will approach this one like we approach every game, we’ll try to be positive and try to win the game. But we will have to be very strong mentally, and be ready for anything that Rangers might throw at us.

“A wounded animal is always a dangerous one and that could maybe go against us. We will have to be at our best on Sunday, there is no doubt about that. I’m really looking forward to going to Ibrox, I always do.

“I really enjoy the occasion. I enjoy the atmosphere there, I like the stadium, and I always get a warm welcome! It sounds like a contradiction in terms, I know, and maybe it is a wee bit ironic because of how the Rangers fans regard me. But, to me, Ibrox is a great venue to go and play football in. I like the structure of the stadium, the way it is set-up, and it is always a good playing surface as well.”

Celtic arrived back in Glasgow just after 4pm yesterday, having undergone a morning recovery session in Madrid after their 2-0 Europa League defeat against Atletico on Thursday night. Despite the energy-sapping conditions at the Vicente Calderon Stadium, Lennon has no concerns about his players’ readiness for a high-octane clash with Rangers just three days later.

“Rangers had the same scenario last year, playing midweek games in Europe, but they seemed pretty strong going into the Old Firm games,” observed Lennon. “I think players nowadays are really attuned to playing as many games in a week as they can.

“Our fitness levels are okay. James Forrest is feeling his hamstring after Thursday night, but we don’t really have any fresh injury worries and we are hopeful that Scott Brown and Anthony Stokes will both be fit enough to come back into contention.

“The game doesn’t require much motivation, that’s for sure. We’ll have a light training session on Saturday and talk through any tactics that we need to think about. It will be pretty simple, just trying to keep the players fresh, basically. We’ll just try to unwind and then recharge the batteries.

“There might even be some advantages in coming out of the Atletico game, the fact that we’ve played at a really high level and acquitted ourselves pretty well. That should give us a lot of confidence going into Sunday’s game.

“I remember coming back from the Uefa Cup semi-final against Boavista in 2003 and winning at Ibrox on the Sunday. For a club like ours to be playing Atletico Madrid and then Rangers in the space of three or four days is fantastic. I think the players are all looking forward to it.

“But it will be physical at Ibrox. It will be more physical than it was in Madrid, in terms of the tackling. But I think it will be pretty even on Sunday in terms of possession. We will just have to be prepared for the physical side of it.

“Rangers always take a good mentality into any game. They are hard to beat and they have started the season pretty well domestically. I haven’t really watched them in depth but their results speak for themselves. The next Old Firm game is always the most important one, but the first one of the season is not really the season-breaker.

“We think we have improved our squad in terms of the players we have brought in. So I hope we are stronger. Old Firm games are always a good barometer of where you are. Madrid was also a good barometer for me. I could see signs of improvement, though we were still disappointed to lose the game.”

The first head-to-head meeting of Lennon and McCoist as managers will inevitably be set against the backdrop of their touchline confrontation at Celtic Park last season at the conclusion of the Scottish Cup replay between the clubs which caused so much sound and fury afterwards from Hampden to Holyrood.

“It was just a heat of the moment thing,” reflected Lennon. “We all look back on these heat of the moment situations and think maybe we could have handled them differently. I didn’t think it was that bad. Last season we had seven Old Firm games and only one was a wee bit over the top. I think more was made of that than there should have been. One out of seven is not bad. I think the players, over the course of the season, behaved themselves pretty well.”

Lennon stopped short of expressing sympathy for the circumstances in which McCoist is operating during his first season as Walter Smith’s successor but he can certainly empathise.

“All the adverse publicity about stuff behind the scenes must be difficult for him,” said Lennon. “But, in terms of the football, you can only concentrate on the job at hand. And I think an Old Firm game is one to whet the appetite of any manager. He’ll be as best prepared as he possibly can be for this game, and he’ll want to win as much as I will. I’m sure it’s not easy. But I can’t comment on what goes on behind the scenes at other clubs. You’d have to ask Ally about that.”