NEIL LENNON says that Celtic are cranking up the pressure on their rivals at the top of the league after they moved five points clear of Rangers at the top of the Premiership with a 2-0 win over Hearts.
Goals from Ryan Christie and Olivier Ntcham gave Celtic the three points at Tynecastle, giving them breathing space over the chasing pack.
And Lennon says that as well as giving his own players a psychological boost, that gap will let their rivals know that they cannot afford any slip-ups as Celtic march on.
"It puts pressure on the rest of the teams around us to win their games," Lennon said.
“I can’t ask any more. That’s what we set out to do tonight, win the game, and we’ve done that with a bit of style as well.
“I was so pleased with a lot of the performances tonight. More importantly the manner we approached the game because we knew Hearts would be up and at it, and they were.
“So we saw that off and once the game opened up we were very, very good.”
Lennon's only criticism of his men on the night was that they didn't add a few more goals, with Odsonne Edouard and Callum McGregor passing up good chances in the second half.
"I can’t ask any more apart from putting even more of an emphatic scoreline on it," he said.
“We had two great chances before half-time and we had great chances in the second half to go 3-0 or 4-0 up. And if we had done that we could have maybe ran riot.
“But the intensity and quality of our play at times was outstanding on a very difficult surface.
“We looked good, it’s another clean sheet against a team who were very much up for the game and played with a lot of pride.
“But we saw that off and it was a really good job. We’re in a really good place at the minute."
Hearts manager Daniel Stendel meanwhile was encouraged by the improvement shown by his men after the dismal defeat to St Johnstone.
“We wanted to change our performance tonight from the performance against St Johnstone on Saturday and I think we did it well," Stendel said.
“After the first 20 minutes or so, it was hard for my team to accept going 1-0 down to the first shot at our goal.
“But when you make mistakes and you are playing against a team with Celtic’s quality, then this can happen.
“But the reaction in the second half, when we were not only defending, was good."
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