Winning group is the main goal for Lennon
NEIL LENNON is giving no consideration to resting any of his busy stars and all his attention to booking a seeded berth in the Europa League’s Round of 32 when Rennes visit Celtic Park.
The French drew with Celtic on the opening night of Group E, since when the Scottish champions have notched three stunning victories to secure qualification.
A fourth on Thursday could potentially clinch top spot with one game, at CFR Cluj, remaining.
That trip to Romania is one of nine fixtures confronting Lennon’s squad in the month of December.
With that schedule in mind and a knockout place assured, the Parkhead boss was asked if resting a few of his international players had crossed his mind for the tie against the section’s bottom club.
The answer is an emphatic ‘no’ as Lennon reeled off a list of reasons why he is intent on maximising the chances of victory.
He asserted: ‘I think it’s important we don’t take our foot off the gas. We want to finish top because, in theory, that might help you get a more favourable draw.
‘Hopefully Lazio take points off Cluj, meaning a win on Thursday guarantees us top spot with a game to spare.
‘That would then give me the luxury of maybe using the squad in Romania. But we can’t look too far ahead. We want to win on Thursday, so we’re going to go strong. We want to finish our home games with maximum points. That would be a good marker for going into the new year.’
Celtic have never topped a qualifying group in either Champions or Europa League competitions and Lennon added: ‘Well, if there’s an extra incentive then you would look for that as motivation.
‘I can’t think about giving anyone a rest. It’s a European night at home and there’s still work to do in the group. I want to get it done.
‘And then we can take another look at it. But if we take our eye off the ball, we could get done. And, psychologically, we don’t want that either.’
Rennes are mid-table in Ligue 1 and well within reach of second place in domestic competition behind runaway leaders Paris Saint-Germain.
Yet their opening-night point against Celtic remains the only crumb of Europa League comfort for Julien Stephan’s side.
‘They started the season well but they seem to be a bit inconsistent with their league performances,’ noted Lennon. ‘And in the Europa League they’ve been surprisingly a bit flat.
‘So I don’t know what their coach will be thinking. We’ve heard some whispers that he might look to bring over a younger team but we can’t look too much into that.’
Ryan Christie’s penalty in France cancelled out a first-half spot-kick by the hosts in September, a frustrated Lennon now reflecting that Celtic aren’t at 100 per cent in the group.
‘We should have won over there,’ he insisted. ‘I wasn’t surprised by how well we did and I was pleased with how comfortable we looked. And then really disappointed that we were a goal down at half-time.
‘At half-time, I said to them: “Are you going to play well and lose? Or are you going to force the issue?” And they did that very well in the second half.
‘We were at least good value for the draw as at that time they were bang in form. Ten days earlier, they had beaten PSG. But we looked comfortable in that environment and it has really given us a springboard for the group.’
The 12 group winners from Europa League sections plus the four best Champions League teams will be seeds when the draw is made for the last 32.
Celtic would, ideally, wish to nail one of those spots then draw a runner-up to play in February. His players, according to James Forrest, have got the message.
‘The manager has spoken about that, we’d rather top the group,’ said wing star Forrest. ‘Whoever we get, it will be a hard game but maybe do that and you get a favourable draw.
‘After four games it’s really positive and shows how good we’ve played.’
Forrest, off the back of 64 games with club and country last season, has racked up 13 goals in 29 outings this term.
Lennon will be well aware, however, of the level of the 28-year-old winger’s disinterest in a rest from action.
‘We’re doing really well and in between the international breaks we won every game,’ noted Forrest.
‘When you’re playing and scoring and the team is creating a lot, you want to keep the momentum up by staying in the team.
‘You don’t get many players who would willingly chap the door. It’s maybe if the manager takes a couple of players out. It’s down to the manager and staff. Sports scientists are on top of it, too.’