Celtic return to action this Saturday with a trip to Easter Road to take on Hibernian. The Hoops produced an impressive performance when the sides met back in September, running out 3-0 winners, and Neil Lennon is looking forward to the resumption of domestic football.

In their most recent fixture, which came just ahead of the break for the latest batch of international fixtures, Celtic put Motherwell to the sword, winning 4-1 at Fir Park, with Moi Elyounoussi netting a hat-trick.

Now, the Hoops boss wants to see his side go on a good run during what will be a busy period, starting with Saturday’s clash in the capital. Speaking ahead of the game, Neil Lennon said:

'We finished before the break with a really good performance and a good win and we’re very much hoping we can pick up where we left off.'

"It won’t be easy but I think it’s important that we settle down. They don’t have any international duties now for quite a while so they can concentrate on what we have to do. We have a bit of work to do in the league, obviously, and some of the other competitions as well, so it’s a big challenge for us now.

“We’ve got a massive run of games now, if you’re looking at December as well, so it’s good to have a healthy squad, it’s good to introduce some players back and if we can pick up where we left off, I’ll be pleased. We’ve got the European run where we’ve got to get some respectability back into it from our point of view.

“Tomorrow is important. It’s a game we’re all looking forward to and it will be good to put a run together now of consistent performances.

“It will be impossible to maintain consistency of team selection, and it’s always important to freshen things up. We’ve got four competitions coming up if you count the League Cup, the Scottish Cup final, the Europa League and obviously the league as well. It’s what we want to do

'We want to challenge in all the competitions and we want the players to sample that experience, and there’s no substitute for playing games.'

“It’ll mean that training will very much be diluted but it’s important that we get consistency from individuals and consistency of performance from the team.”

The Celtic manager is pleased that he does not have to deal with any new injury concerns following a number of players being away on international duty, while Jeremie Frimpong has shrugged off the recent knock that saw him taken off during the Motherwell game, and has trained at Lennoxtown over the past two weeks.

Chris Jullien is back in training and could be set for a return to the squad in the next week or so, while Mikey Johnston is also training again, though his return will be slightly longer.

And Neil Lennon is expecting an entertaining encounter at Easter Road on Saturday afternoon.

“They’ve had a couple of defeats in the league but I don’t think their performances have merited that,” he said. “They had a good win in the League Cup last week against Dundee, so at home, they’ve been strong this season, and under Jack they’ve brought in a couple of players this season who know the environment very well.

'So I think there will be goals in the game, and hopefully we come out on the positive side of that.'

“We’re just trying to focus on being consistent, playing well, which we know we can, and winning games at a performance level that we expect from the players, and which we know they can attain. And if we can get that right, then I’m sure we will start making inroads on anyone around us really.”

Neil Lennon: We're looking forward to return to action against Hibs