NEIL Lennon’s side issued a statement of intent on day one of the 2019/20 Premiership season, hammering St Johnstone 7-0 at Celtic Park. There was no let-up after that, and when the campaign came to a halt back in March, the Hoops were 13 points clear at the top of the table with just eight matches remaining.

Along the way, they had won 26 of their league fixtures, drawing two and losing out on just two occasions, scoring 89 goals and conceding 19. That impressive goals tally is actually better than on four of the previous nine-in-a-row seasons, and is a clear sign of the attacking intent of the Irishman’s side.

“That’s no mean feat to score seven goals at any stage of the season, particularly at first when you’re still trying to find your best form,” the Celtic manager said, “so it was a real message that the players meant real business this season.

“I’m so proud and it’s not an easy thing to do – it’s only been done a few times in the history of football, and we’re sitting here at nine-in-a-row now. It’s something that I wanted really badly this season.

“The league was always the priority and the way the players played, there was a sort of swagger about them, they played some swashbuckling football and that delighted me. The amount of goals we scored delighted me.

“There were lots of wee sub stories within the season – Griff coming back, which really pleased me. The new boys bedding in, Frimpong emerging and then then the consistency of the likes of Brown, McGregor, Christie, Forrest. And then Edouard at the top of the pitch, who’s a very special player.

“And with what’s been going on in Scottish football over the last month or so, all these things get forgotten but not by me, certainly not by my staff and I’m sure the fans as well.

“There’s been a lot pressure – a lot of pressure on me, a lot of pressure on the players because everybody wants to beat them, everybody wants to see them fail because people, by nature, get fed up, of seeing the same result all the time but they just won’t let that happen. They just have that desire, that hunger not to be beaten, and that’s why we’re sitting here where we are.”

Neil Lennon: Swashbuckling football has won us nine-in-a-row