Celtic take a break from Scottish Premiership duty this weekend as they prepare to take on Livingston in the Scottish Cup quarter-final.
The Bhoys face David Martindale’s outfit at 2.30 pm this Sunday; however, they will have to do without the services of Hyunjun Yang, who is suspended for the tie following his red card against Heart of Midlothian.
Of course, the chance to progress to a semi-final at Hampden is at stake for Brendan Rodgers’ men before they return to league duty next week at home to St Johnstone.
Nine matches remain in the battle for the title; nevertheless, Celtic will need to show an improvement in consistency, given they have dropped points on eight occasions so far this campaign.
To put that into perspective, Ange Postecoglou’s treble-winning side of 2022/23 only dropped the ball in six matches last term, most of them coming after comfortably wrapping up top spot.
Undoubtedly, Rodgers has a large core of players who have been over the course in the Scottish Premiership, which has to count for something during the congested run-in period.
Either way, the Hoops are still in the running to claim a domestic double, which would be a sweet end to the first season in Rodgers’ second spell north of the border.
Neil Lennon says Celtic need to show their mettle in title fight
Former Celtic manager Neil Lennon has won five titles in the Parkhead dugout and knows what is required to ensure silverware arrives at the end of a campaign.
Admitting that he would love to be involved in this particular title race, the Lurgan-born man has stated that the Bhoys need to show ‘bottle’ and the correct mentality to pip Rangers to the Scottish Premiership crown.
Lennon stated [Cited via The Celtic Way]: “It does come down to bottle, yes. It is all about your mentality, performance, fitness levels and staying on top of your game.
“I think it’s really exciting. I would love to be involved in it. I have been involved in many as a player and as a manager and it is just brilliant. You have to be on point all the time now. I think the pivotal games will be when they play each other.
“Rangers also have the Europa League, which is great for them, and I’d rather be in it than not. You always benefit from playing against top teams and that quality of opposition going forward into domestic games.”
Celtic can only focus on themselves in the next nine matches
Despite the temptation to hope results fall your way elsewhere, Celtic can’t rely on that and can only influence circumstances directly in their control between now and May.
Nine cup finals remain for the Bhoys, including two clashes against Rangers that will likely decide the title’s destination.
Unusually, it has been elsewhere that Celtic have struggled to pick up results, given they have beaten their arch-rivals on both occasions they have met this season.
Nevertheless, Rodgers knows what is at stake and cannot allow his side to fall into any traps in their quest for silverware.
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