Hoops troops not feeling the heat in hunt for next League Cup win

Celtic manager Neil Lennon does not feel there is any pressure on his players to hold on to their dominance of Scotland’s cup competitions.

But he senses a determination among his players to extend their stranglehold as they look to make it 10 pieces of domestic silverware in a row.

Celtic will aim to stretch their winning run in domestic cup ties to 29 matches when they host Partick Thistle in the Betfred Cup quarter-finals tonight.

Lennon said: “I don’t think there’s any pressure on the players now, in terms of this competition anyway.

“They have won it three years in a row. I don’t know if there’s a huge expectation to win it again. If that is the case, they are well used to it. But no one is feeling any pressure going into the game.

“We want to play well, we want to keep our form going. A lot of the players here have won three League Cups in a row and we want to keep that run going in both competitions as long as possible.”

Lennon will make changes with Craig Gordon set to replace Fraser Forster in goal. He will also balance the need to give other players some well-earned rest with continuing their momentum.

Lennon, who will again be without Leigh Griffiths because of a thigh knock, added: “Moritz (Bauer) twisted his ankle so he’ll be a doubt. Christopher Jullien is fine, but obviously we have to take a steer on games coming up as well, for the likes of (James) Forrest, (Scott) Brown, (Callum) Mcgregor, (Ryan) Christie, (Boli) Bolingoli, they have all been playing a lot of football.”

Thistle will make the journey across Glasgow with a new management team after Ian Mccall returned to Firhill with Alan Archibald and Neil Scally as his assistants.

“I know Ian very well,” Lennon said. “He’s done a fantastic job at Ayr United. I know this is his second time now at Thistle and I’m sure he’s looking forward to the challenge.”

With Thistle bottom of the Ladbrokes Championship, Mccall has more pressing concerns but wants his players to enjoy the occasion.

“I don’t want the pressure to ever be off when you wear that red and yellow jersey,” Mccall said.

“But it’s there and it’s a quarterfinal so the players can look forward to it.”