Lennon excited for training return

the place. There will be certain protocols – for example, they can’t go in the building, so everything will be done outside, which is fine, and we’re just delighted that we can have a sort of semblance of training. We have a target now of the first week in August to start back and all those plans are now coming to fruition that the club has been working on these past few months.”

Lennon went on: “In terms of the recruitment processes, they’re all underway now, and in terms of adding to the squad and talking to clubs, again, it’s sort of early days but we’ve made tentative inroads as regards that as well.

“Just getting the players back, getting them familiar with the atmosphere, the training and surroundings again, that’s all going to be important, but we need to be patient with that as well. So, although we’ve got a June 11 start [in training], hopefully within a week or two, we can start training in bigger groups.”

Premiership clubs will be able to screen footage of all home matches to season ticket holders until restrictions and social distancing measures are relaxed, thanks to a deal struck between the SPFL and Sky Sports on virtual season tickets.

And, while fans would ideally be back in the stands to watch Celtic go for 10 in a row, Lennon hopes they won’t miss out on history as games are played behind closed doors. “We need the fans right with us, even if it’s at a safe distance as it were, on a short-term basis,” he added.