In the Euro zone

Senior Sports Writer

Sunday 8 July 2012

VICTORY in Europe will not be important during Celtic's four-game tour of Germany and the Netherlands which kicks off on Tuesday, but will be vital when manager Neil Lennon and his men return to foreign fields for their Champions League third-round qualifier at the end of the month.

Neil Lennon's full focus is on having his squad ready for their Champions League qualifier Photograph: SNS

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Ronnie Cully

The absence of Rangers from the SPL will leave the champions short of genuine competition and income, but it is a void that can be filled by a successful and sustained run in Europe, preferably in the top competition.

Lennon stumbled in his previous attempts to steer safe passage for his side through the qualifying rounds for Europe. Braga knocked them out of the Champions League last season and Utrecht then won their tie for a place in the Europa League, with only the exclusion of Sion throwing them a lifeline.The 41-year-old believes third time does not just need to be lucky, it has to be good. Hence the thought and preparation that has gone into formatting a pre-season schedule designed to avoid the exhaustion and poor start that followed previous trips to Australia and the US.The aim is to have his squad in prime condition for the opening qualifier against opposition which will become known on July 20. That is the day before Celtic complete their mini-Euro tour with a glamour game against Ajax in Amsterdam.Before then, they meet FC Augsburg, Stuttgart Kickers and Vfr Aalen in matches that will be interspersed with hard graft on the training field.The groundwork was done at Lennoxtown last week, although Georgios Samaras, Mikael Lustig, Mo Bangura, Emilio Izaguirre and Victor Wanyama, who were all on international duty deep into last month, will only join up with their team-mates when they arrive in Germany.Ki Sung-Yueng could be parted from them for another month as he has been seconded to Olympic duty with South Korea.That does not please Lennon, although he did manage a smile when he noted that if Ki's side do well, the 23-year-old could receive the unusual bonus of dodging national service.Lennon, himself refreshed and rejuvenated after a summer break that included a visit to Lille in France to study training methods, is clearly keen to get back down to serious business, mindful that the first real – and possibly-season-defining challenge – is only three weeks away."The first week back is a lot different from when I did pre-season," he said. "A lot of it is conditioned towards football and football- specific. In the main, we're pleased with the condition [the players] have come back in."In terms of their mental condition, the manager is just as confident there is little to concern him, even if the prospect of a championship without Rangers removes a certain edge from the forthcoming domestic campaign."I hope that doesn't affect the players' thinking," said Lennon of the lack of Old Firm rivalry. "We can't let external factors influence them in terms of 'the league's over, what are you doing there?' and let a malaise sink in. That can be dangerous. You want to keep them on their toes. You want to regain the championship and it's up to us to maintain that hunger."Which is where Europe takes centre stage. "The champions League was always a big factor anyway to progress the team," Lennon said. "I'm very wary of these qualifying games, and it's important we get the pre-season build-up right because our first competitive game will be a qualifier."You might be going into the unknown against a team we don't know much about. "I'm happy with the games we have. That was one of the reasons we chose Germany: to bed the players down for 10 days and get good quality work into them."We have three decent games there, then follow that with Ajax in Amsterdam, which will be fantastic for the players."

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In the Euro zone

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