Lennon calls on his Celtic side to show tunnel vision
NEIL LENNON has urged his Celtic players to adopt tunnel vision in the quest to secure nine-in-a-row. Ten points clear of Rangers after hammering Hearts 5-0 while the Ibrox side were sliding to a calamitous defeat in Kilmarnock on Wednesday night, Lennon’s side have delivered a 100-per-cent record since returning from the winter break. In contrast, Steven Gerrard’s under-fire side have shipped eight points in six league games since returning to action. Despite expressing a degree of empathy with his city rival, Lennon believes his side have to ignore what’s going on elsewhere and focus on themselves. Warning of inevitable bumps in the road as his team prepare for Sunday’s trip to
Aberdeen, the Parkhead boss said: ‘We are just trying to take care of our own business. We have another tricky game coming up on Sunday away from home. ‘We were delighted with the win and the way we played against Hearts, a team who could have caused problems with the way they set up. We dealt with it very well. ‘You have to pay credit to the players, their motivation and desire to both win the games and do so in the manner they are playing. ‘We have a good group and, mentally, they are in a good place at the minute. We are delighted with the winning run we have been on since we came back. ‘We just have to keep the tunnel vision now and not worry about what anyone else is doing. ‘There’s going to be a bump in the road here and there, I said that in the first half of the season. ‘It will be the same in the second
half of the season as well. The bigger the gap, the happier we will be. ‘The level and quality of the performance, the fitness levels of the players is very high. ‘The break was a good time for us, we got some good work into them and are reaping the benefit of it now.’ Rangers entered the winter break on a high after securing their first Parkhead win in nine years in December. In a remarkable repeat of last season, however, the Ibrox side have struggled to deal with the hype since competitive action resumed — Gerrard questioning the bottle and mentality of his players after a second-half collapse at Rugby Park. Insisting he never doubted his team despite a damaging Old Firm defeat, Lennon now believes the fallout was an over-reaction. ‘There was a lot of criticism because it was a significant game. I understand that,’ he noted. ‘That’s what happens in the modern game. We have to try and keep a realistic touch on it. ‘We analysed where we went wrong and moved on. So far, it’s been very good. ‘We had a lot of injuries coming into the end of December but I’m now getting a lot of players back fit. We had to juggle things around — but I’m pleased with the depth we have now.’ Lennon has now led Celtic to 23 wins in their opening 26 league games. Despite Rangers being eight points better off than at the same stage last season, recent slip-ups have increased the scrutiny on Gerrard. The Celtic boss said: ‘I can empathise to a certain degree, yeah. I’ve been through that myself. It’s a tough environment at times, and an unrealistic environment at times as well. ‘I can’t really comment on the form that Rangers are in or what they are going through, I can only really comment on what Celtic are doing, and we’re very pleased. There’s a long way to go obviously and a lot of games still to come,