CELTIC will have a full week to prepare for this Sunday’s Glasgow derby, and Neil Lennon intends to make full use of the time as he draws up his plan to ensure his side maintain their strong form and come away from Ibrox with all three points.

Since the start of the 2019/20 Scottish Premiership campaign back in August last year, Celtic have played two games every week with the exception of international fixtures and the winter break, so having a full week to prepare for a game is unprecedented for the Hoops.

The well-deserved change in pace for the champions has come at an opportune time too. Celtic have the chance to extend their dominance at the top of the table to 16 points if they can repeat the outcome of their last outing at Ibrox when they won 2-0.

Speaking exclusively to this week’s Celtic View, Neil Lennon said: “We have a full week to prepare for this, so we’ll go into it strong and try to win the game using the style of football that’s conducive to the way the fans want us to play and what the club’s used to,.

“Having a week to get ready for the game is a novelty. It’s been non-stop for us. The break was good and then January and February were heavy months, but we got a lot of work into them in Dubai and accomplished a lot of good things, so it’s important we maintain our consistency now and don’t take our eye off things.

“We’ve lost some important players at key times in the season. We’ve even changed the system at times and adapted to that and I think in the main now we have almost a full compliment. Mikey Johnston’s the one real long-term injury but the rest of the squad seem pretty healthy up until now.

“The volume of games is bound to take its toll, but the players have been absolutely fantastic since the turn of the year. When you’re playing well and things are going well for you, it’s a good place to be for a player and you just want to keep that match rhythm going.

“The extra couple of days working with the players does us good as well. It gives us more time to think about things and lighten the load a bit for the players.”

For the full interview with Neil Lennon, see this week’s Celtic View, out now.

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Neil Lennon in this week's derby Celtic View