NO-ONE needs to tell Neil Lennon just how important the coming season is for Celtic. Having delivered nine-in-a-row, he is thrilled to be the man leading the team in their quest for a history-making 10 league titles in a row.

And while he knows the excitement and anticipation is palpable, part of his job will be to keep players’ focus on the next game on the horizon, whoever the opponent might be. Nevertheless, it’s a campaign that the Irishman is eagerly looking forward to.

“A lot of people say that players shouldn’t need motivation and that is, to a certain extent, true,” he said. “Players have their own self-motivation, but from a club point of view, from the supporters point of view and certainly from the group of players, they’re going for something that’s never been done before and I think that’s a huge incentive for them in terms of winning the league.

“We have to focus them and try not to get too ahead of ourselves, and obviously take each game as it comes, but it’s a huge motivation for the players this year, and any new ones coming in – it will be embedded into them very, very quickly what’s required.”

The Scottish Premiership season is scheduled to start on the first weekend in August, while Champions League qualifiers will follow soon after.

Earlier in the week, UEFA announced a new format for the qualifiers, with the first three rounds of the Champions League being a single leg match, with the draw determining who plays at home in each match. Only the play-off round will remain as a two-leg contest.

Having guided his side to the last 32 of the Europa League last season, Neil Lennon is determined to take the step up to the Champions League group stages by successfully navigating through the qualifiers.

“Again, it’s all new,” he said. “The dates will be better for us because they’re a little bit further down the line than what we’re used to. The players will have had six or seven weeks training, and then we’ll be hopefully into the domestic season before we play the Champions League. And then it’s the luck of the draw.

“But we’ve just got to adapt and focus, and we know what we want to do. We know qualification is really important for us.”

Neil Lennon: Our incentive this season is to make football history