IN the wake of Celtic’s well-contested 1-0 win over Riga in Latvia on Thursday, Hoops boss Neil Lennon said he and his backroom staff started their analysis for the weekend’s encounter with Hibs on the plane journey home.

Tomorrow (Sunday), the nine-in-a-row champions host Jack Ross’ side at Paradise and the manager expects a good game against a good side – the Easter Road outfit now two points behind Celtic in the Premiership having played an extra game, and having drawn 2-2 at against Rangers last weekend.

“Sunday will be a tough game, and Hibs will be buoyed by a good performance and a very good result last weekend,” said Neil Lennon. “They’ve made a great start to the season, they’re playing with a lot of confidence, and Sunday is a game that’s now at the forefront of our minds.

“It was our immediate focus after the Riga game and were looking at analysis on the plane on the way home from Latvia. It’ll be a tough game.

“We’re in the match rhythm now, we’ve freshened up the team as we’ve gone along, and that’s what we want, we wants the games. The players will do a second day recovery on Saturday, and then they’ll get ready for the game again on Sunday, and between times it’s about showing them the strengths and weaknesses of Hibs.”

The manager said Thursday’s Europa League win over Riga will give his players confidence, as they look to build on their winning domestic form. Still, the Irishman takes nothing for granted and well-understands the threat the Edinburgh side poses.

He added: “Hibs are a huge threat, and they’re as good as any team in the division. I know a lot of the players, I know Boyle, the two strikers, Nesbit and Doidge – Doidge can be a goalscorer and Nesbit has hit the ground running in the SPFL very well. They’re a threat, there’s no question of that.

“I know some of the players very well, but I’ve been gone from there about 18 months now, they’ve got a new manager in and Jack’s putting his own stamp on the team and you can see that with their success. He’s a very good manager.”

Neil Lennon: We’re now fully-focused on Hibs threat