THE dust had barely settled on Celtic’s superb Europa League victory over Lazio when Neil Lennon began preparing for this Sunday’s Premiership clash with Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

It’s a tough test for the league leaders against a Dons side who recorded an impressive win over Motherwell last weekend, but it’s one that the Hoops will be fully prepared for come Sunday lunchtime.

“We have today (Friday) to recover, and then we have to travel to Aberdeen tomorrow for a midday kick-off on Sunday, so it’s a big ask,” said Neil Lennon.

“I’ve no idea how they’ll be feeling tomorrow, because even two days after a game like that – and it’s not really even two days, really it’s 36 hours – there might be fatigue and stiffness there. I’m not making excuses because we’ve got the squad to cope with it.

“We played brilliantly against Cluj but then lost to Livingston, so that’s a real reminder of how difficult this match is going to be.

“Aberdeen had a brilliant win at Motherwell last weekend. It was very impressive, and they’ve got a very good manager. He’s been at the top of the game here for a long time, so we probably couldn’t have asked for a stiffer test after Thursday night.

“It doesn’t surprise me with Derek and Tony Docherty, because the way they’ve managed that club over the past few years has been so impressive.

“And in Sam Cosgrove they’ve got a player who’s bang in form as well. They showed a bit of patience with him and now they’re getting their rewards with that.

“They’ve got the likes of Niall McGinn still there, and experienced players, allied with some new faces, so every year for Derek he has to evolve the team, and all of a sudden they’re starting to find their new gears again, which is a concern for me, obviously.”

Over the course of the campaign, the Hoops boss knows that he will have to utilise his squad to cope with the fixture demands across several competitions.

However, he is unlikely to make wholesale changes to the team for the Aberdeen game, though one player who will miss out is Ryan Christie, who is serving the second of a two-game suspension following his red card against Livingston.

“We have looked at historical reports on Thursday to Sunday games and, in the main, when we make more than three changes, it can be detrimental to the result and the performance,” Neil Lennon explained.

“We played in Stockholm and then played Rangers on the Sunday morning and won, with one change. Then, after Rennes away, we made one change for Kilmarnock on the Sunday, and we won.

“Then we played Cluj and played well, and then made one change for Livingston and we lost, although the fact we were down to 10 men might have affected that as well, so obviously discipline is going to be important on Sunday also.

“With us not having Ryan, it’s a big loss, because he’s got 12 goals now and who knows how many assists – so he is bang on form. We love working with him and I think he’s really thriving on the responsibility that we’re giving him as well.”

Neil Lennon: Aberdeen will be the toughest of tests after Euro tie