Kennedy: Prove we’re still the best

JOHN KENNEDY insists Celtic remain the best side in Scotland and has urged his players to prove it in next weekend’s Scottish Cup tie against newly-crowned Premiership champions Rangers.

After hoovering up 12 consecutive trophies, Celtic’s form fell off a cliff towards the end of 2020, with a League Cup defeat to Ross County breaking the Parkhead monopoly on silverware as

Rangers built an unassailable lead in the title race.

The collapse of the 10-in-a-row bid cost Neil Lennon his job as manager, with Kennedy stepping in on an interim basis.

The caretaker boss insists the quality that saw the club rack up an unprecedented run of trophies remains, a view lent some credence by yesterday’s 6-0 win over Livingston, the team’s strongest domestic performance of the season.

Asked if he still backed his squad ahead of any other in Scotland, Kennedy said: ‘Yeah, 100 per cent. And I think the last game (against Rangers) and the 60 minutes

at Ibrox we showed that. I have full belief in the squad we have here that, on our day, we are still the best team in the country.’

Celtic have yet to register a win over Steven Gerrard’s side this term, with last month’s 1-1 draw at Celtic Park coming after the league had been settled.

Kennedy insists the cup presents an opportunity not only to retain one of the three trophies claimed over each of the last four seasons but also put a marker down for next term, when the club will be under new management.

‘That’s the reaction you have to have,’ asserted Kennedy. ‘There was always going to come a point where we had a setback.

‘It was a big one for us this season but the best always bounce back.

‘It’s easy to give up and say: “Oh, we’ve had our time” but I have said to the players it is very much about how we respond to that.

‘Our level of performance against Rangers was good. I thought it sent a message that the gap is not as big as everybody thinks it is.

‘But, ultimately, it does come down to results, so we want to take that one step further.

‘Then that sets us up in terms of changing the narrative rather than just looking at the league table alone.

‘On our day, we know that with more consistency and improvements we will still very much be up there and challenging and winning trophies.’

Livingston manager David Martindale admitted yesterday’s Celtic performance carried a level of intensity he had not seen all season.

He said: ‘There was a hunger and appetite with Celtic, with the way they moved the ball, I have not seen for a while.

‘If I am honest, it looked like a team who were playing for the manager. If John has any chance of the job, that will have done him the world of good.’