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Neil Lennon: Derby games define players more than anything

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Neil Lennon has warned his new bhoys that their Celtic career’s begin on Sunday.

The Parkhead boss could hand derby debuts to as many as nine players on Sunday when his men face Rangers for the first time this season.

Despite reeling off eight straight wins in the SPL and experiencing the bitter disappointments of two European exits before August was out Lennon has warned his players that nothing compares with how they perform against bitter rivals Rangers.

“I think that it’s a game that defines players more than anything,” the Celtic boss claimed. “We’re playing for big stakes and these games effect how fans look at players.

“We’ll try to explain to the players who are making their debuts what it is like but you can’t replicate that until they experience it themselves.

“This is the best game in the world to win and the worst when you lose. They are great occasions, they are very exciting for the fans but from my side of the fence as manager it’s a totally different experience.

“You can’t enjoy it until it’s over, the build up alone is very different. You have to do all the interviews and people have been asking me about this game for three or four weeks.

“You try and avoid those questions but now I can allow my focus to be on this game.”

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Lennon took the unusual step of going to Ibrox last Saturday to watch Rangers play Motherwell- something that Martin O’Neill and Gordon Strachan never did.

The Celtic  manager is rarely seen on opposition territory but Lennon wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to watch Sunday’s opponents in the flesh.

He told the Celtic View: “Something has got to give but I don’t think that there’s much between the teams. We’ve both shown a level of consistency so far and a good mentality into the bargain.

“Derbies are pretty physical and having watched Rangers on Sunday they play good football as well. I’m sure that the game will be toght and it’s fair to say that both sets of fans will be looking forward to it.

“But it’s just one game and I don’t think that it will have any bearing on which way the league is going to go- it will just give a psychological edge for a while. Our advantage is that we’re at home and we’ll have the majority of the support behind us.”

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0 comments

  • steviec says:

    Hopefully the bhoys are up to the challenge. Still I’m worried about the referee and some honest mistakes.

  • BoulderBhoy says:

    To be honest, the only Lennon signing that I don’t like tremendously is Mulgrew, but even that signing provided a decent backup to Izaguirre now. I think that the signing of Efrain Juarez will pay huge dividends in the future as well.

  • This is a nail bitter.No doubt about it.If we get
    FAIR PLAY,we will win the game.
    I remember Big Jock saying “If we score two goals
    we should get one” Unfortunately that comment in
    1972 still applies.

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