NEIL Lennon last night insisted he doesn’t feel under any additional pressure ahead of Celtic’s massive Premiership match against Aberdeen at Pittodrie tomorrow despite his side suffering back-to-back defeats for the first time in nearly two years.
The Scottish champions slumped to a 3-1 loss to Italian giants AC Milan in their opening Europa League group game at Parkhead on Thursday night – five days after they had been beaten 2-0 by their city rivals Rangers in the Premiership.
The last time the Glasgow club failed to get a result in two consecutive fixtures was way back in December 2018 when they were beaten by RB Salzburg at home and then Hibernian away during Brendan Rodgers’ spell in charge.
Lennon, who has been missing a raft of key personnel due to positive coronavirus test results and injuries, needs his men to get back to winning ways in the league against Derek McInnes’s charges tomorrow to prevent unrest from growing among their supporters.
However, the Northern Irishman stressed that he and his players, who are four points off top spot in the top flight table with a game in hand, have been unaffected by the criticism they have received and are simply focused on recording a vital away victory as normal.
“Every game is a pressure game, every game since the day I walked back in the door every game has been a pressure game,” he said. “You can hype it up all you want, for me we will just go out there and endeavour to win, play well, start getting our juices back and get the momentum that we built up last season.
“Is it a test of character? It is just another game. You talk about character, they have it in abundance. It is a bit of a cliché to say this is another test of character. It is just another challenge for them to look forward to. I think Lille next week will be a cracking game to look forward to.
“I just want to see us improve now because we have been decimated. It has been very difficult to do with everything that has been going on. It has been very stop-start. It is not ideal, but, slowly but surely, we will get them back. I don’t think the damage, if you can call it that, is irreparable. There is a long way to go.”
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