Lennon and co face familiar foe

31 January 2011 17:00

Neil Lennon admits his team talk before yet another Celtic versus Aberdeen clash on Tuesday night will seem like Groundhog Day.

Celtic beat the Dons 4-1 in their Co-operative Insurance Cup semi-final clash at Hampden on Saturday, only a week after a 1-0 win over Craig Brown's side in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League at Parkhead. The Hoops boss has already cajoled his players into a 9-0 home win over the men from the Granite City in November.

"It is very fresh from Saturday," Lennon said. "It's sort of difficult to do team talks at times because it sounds like Groundhog Day, but it's just the way the fixtures have thrown these games up."

He added: "We have to concentrate. It's a massive game for us in terms of the league. It's a game that we dearly want to win and I'm sure Aberdeen will be the same so I think we are in for a tough game.

"It's a different venue and I'm sure Aberdeen will be fired up for it after what happened to them on Saturday. But we go into the game with confidence and belief in ourselves, which is good as long as it's not misplaced.

"We were excellent last Wednesday (against Hearts) and we carried that on at the weekend. It was scintillating stuff and I was delighted."

Saturday's comprehensive semi-final win set up an Old Firm final at the national stadium on March 20.

Celtic also face Rangers at Ibrox next Sunday in their Scottish Cup fifth-round tie ahead of an SPL meeting between the Glasgow giants later in the month. However, Lennon admits he cannot get enough of Old Firm games.

"It's one of the greatest fixtures in the world, never mind Britain and with both teams going so well it adds the ingredients to the pot," the former Celtic skipper said.

"We have a cup final to look forward to and a big game on Sunday, obviously, but we are not thinking about that just yet, we have a really tough game on Tuesday to contend with."

Source: PA