DEFENDER’S GOING HOME
BY CRAIG SWAN these games. It’s good to be playing in France and against such tough opponents to see the levels we can match with them.
“The strikers we’ll be facing are top-class. You want to come against this type of player and having battles against those guys is just perfect.
“I will be ready for it and can’t wait for the challenge. Whatever happens, I will be better for it afterwards.”
Jullien and the squad have relished stepping up their work in the English Midlands over the past five days.
Lennon has been enthused by the surroundings and his centre-back said: “We’re at a great campus. There are good facilities and we can work peacefully.
“It’s great to be training with the boys. The first people I kicked were Jerry Frimpong and then Karamoko Dembele – they are too small and sometimes when they go past me, I put my arm out and it goes directly into their face! I don’t mean it.
“The first day we came back to Lennoxtown, just to see your team-mates again and have a joke with them, was nice.
“It was like normal again. We can’t forget what’s happened, but it’s great to get back on the field.”
When it does get going for real on August 1, Jullien wants to be fully prepared. The 27-year-old enjoyed a superb debut campaign with the champions, but feels the slate is wiped clean again.
Second-season syndrome has claimed many a player and Jullien said: “It is going to be tougher and more difficult for me now.
“The league now knows me and the opponents know me, but the biggest challenge is going to be doing it again for myself.
“When you enter into a new club and just arrive, you are a little shy sometimes to speak up and it takes time.
“But I know all of the players and the coaches now and you can’t be lazy on things. You have to work harder and better to be more powerful and improve.
“To have success and for the team to get to the top is tough. But to stay there is really difficult. Celtic does that every year, so I want to try and be the same.
CHRISTOPHER JULLIEN ON LIFE AT THE HOOPS
Jullien, meanwhile, admits the squad won’t be short of motivation for the competitive resumption.
Despite not being able to get into matches at this stage, over 50,000 fans have bought season tickets and the Frenchman says the squad have targeted payback.
Jullien insists the champions will cope with no crowds and said: “When I saw the sales of the season tickets, I thought this is crazy. This is huge. And we are going to give everything to pay them back.
“Playing without fans is going to take concentration, but the team has shown me we are going to have the strength to do that.
“We are all focused on the field and concentrate on our jobs and I know the situation because I have already faced it in France one time.
“I was playing a two-legged game with Toulouse. We played the first game behind closed doors at a different stadium and the motivation in the first five or 10 minutes was the most difficult part, but when you get that everything is normal.
“When you are focused, you play your game and it is going to be good. We are going to get through and just wait for the days until we get the supporters back
“I can’t wait for the first game to kick off and try to make a new achievement.”