Neil Lennon has been involved in many title races throughout his time at Celtic, both as a player and also as manager, and it’s that invaluable experience he will tap into in the months ahead. That and the fact he also knows how to win these races.

The Celtic manager takes his team to the Czech Republic for a Europa League clash with Sparta Prague on Thursday night, with domestic matters put to one side for now.

Those domestic demands will involve a League Cup tie, a Scottish Cup final and a raft of Premiership fixtures between now and the end of 2020, and each challenge is one that he and his players are relishing.

“I have a job to do here, and I think I’ve done it pretty well since I’ve come back in,” he said. “I take it as a privilege and the club means a lot to me and it has done for the last 20 years. I’m strong, I feel strong and my backroom team are strong.

“You have to have a sense of perspective. We’ve made a better start in the league than we did two years ago when we ended up winning a treble.

“We’ve lost one game in the league and we’re in another final which unfortunately has overlapped from last season and we couldn’t get to enjoy the fruits of everything last season. We’re in a new environment for the time being. We’ve lost one domestic game this calendar year, so I think its hysteria.

'Since I’ve come back, we’ve won four trophies in a row, the team has won 11 in a row and has a chance of winning 12. We’re going through a sort of sticky patch, as all teams do. Good teams come out the other end and so do good managers. That’s what I firmly believe we’ll do.'

“I think we can play better and I think we can go on a run. There’s no evidence to suggest the contrary to that but I can’t control what some fans are feeling.
“I think there’s frustration at the supporters not being able to be at the games but I have the perspective of, we’re calm and there’s a long way to go. Yes, Rangers have made a great start to the season, we can’t affect that but we can later on by putting pressure on them and I’m pretty confident that we will.

“There’s so much football to go and we have games in hand. I enjoy this kind of pressure, it’s never really bothered me before. You’re disappointed by the reaction from some people but you can’t control everything.

'I’m looking ahead looking forward to the games coming up and looking forward to putting a good run together between now and the new year.'

Neil Lennon also confirmed that Leigh Griffiths is set to miss out on the game in Prague with a knee injury, but both Chris Jullien and Hatem Elhamed are back in the squad and will be in contention for Thursday night.

“We have to win tomorrow to stand any chance of qualifying, the Celtic manager said. “That’s our sole focus now – going to Prague and trying to win the game. The reverse game was probably as disappointing as we’ve been for a while, so it’s important we motivate ourselves to correct that.

“We started the game well and then lost our way a little bit and became very ragged. That can’t happen tomorrow, we must endeavour to win the game. Our away record in Europe has been pretty good, so we take all the positives from that and bring it into the game.”

Manager: We have the quality and character to succeed