Neil Lennon wants Celtic players to “play the game and not the occasion”

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Neil Lennon was keen to play down this weekend’s Scottish Cup final when he met the media on Thursday afternoon.

The Hoops may be just 90 minutes away from making yet more history by winning an unprecedented treble treble but Lennon wants them to stay focussed on the task at hand: beating Hearts.

On the official Celtic YouTube channel (11mins) Lennon said: “I’m wary of everyone talking about treble trebles and bus parades.

“We’ve got to play the game and not the occasion and that’s really important and that’s the message we’ll be hammering home to the players for the next few days.”

What does Lennon mean?

On any given day, Celtic should beat Hearts. The Hoops have better facilities, better coaches and better players, experienced in winning trophies. Lennon’s men are vast favourites for the match and can’t let anything hamper them once it gets underway.

Lennon will be wanting to see a repeat of the semi-final victory over Aberdeen when Celtic started purposely and penned the Dons back.

The Hoops have shown that they are big game players over the past three seasons. They’ve won all ten of their last matches at the National Stadium – netting on 24 occasions and conceding just three.

The start is key for the Hoops on Saturday. If they impose themselves on the game in the opening stages and give the Jambos no encouragement then it will help their chances of a result.