Lennon wants his men to
Neil Lennon has challenged his players to make sure their three-year winning run in domestic knockout competitions stands or falls on their own efforts.
Since losing to Rangers in the Scottish Cup semi- final in 2016 after a penalty shoot- out, the Hoops have notched up 29 straight victories in domestic knockout competition.
It is a remarkable sequence, and one which their manager agreed he does not want to end, due to a red card or dodgy penalty.
“It is important to try to take that out of it,” said Lennon, revealing he had had good wishes from his predecessors and former bosses Martin O’neill and Gordon Strachan in the run- up to the game.
“Try to be the dominant team in all aspects of the game, then you don’t have to look at wrong decisions.
“You’ve got to take the referee out of it. You’ve got to keep your discipline and play as strongly as you can.
“It may come to a stop at some stage. But it doesn’t need to be this week. “Not on the run we’re on, not the way we’re playing. Not with the significance or magnitude of the game, or the opposition.
“We don’t want it to stop on Sunday. We want to keep it going for as long as we can.
“If we can replicate our recent form going into this game, it’s going to take a very good team to beat us.”
This afternoon is an opportunity for the Northern Irishman to claim a bit of personal history, as the League Cup has so far evaded him in his time as Celtic manager.
“It’s one I haven’t won, so it would be