Neil Lennon fires Celtic and Rangers warning ahead of December 30 meeting 

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Neil Lennon was in a pretty blunt mood when discussing Celtic’s showdown against Rangers on December 30.

Celtic dropped points for the first time on Sunday when Brendan Rodgers watched his side suffer a 2-1 defeat at Kilmarnock.

It means that the Bhoys are still leading the charge at the top of the Scottish Premiership table by five points, although, Rangers do have a game in hand.

But with a lot of games coming thick and fast this month, Neil Lennon suggested that it might not be the end of the drama, as he told PLZ Soccer.

Ahead of Celtic and Rangers locking horns, he stated that everyone is talking as if both teams are going to win ‘every game’ between now and December 30, which he feels simply isn’t the case.

Not just Premiership action, Rangers have the small matter of Aberdeen in the Scottish League Cup final on Sunday, with five games for Philippe Clement’s side before they travel to Celtic, in comparison to our four.

Celtic v Rangers

“We are all talking as if Celtic and Rangers are going to win every game between now and the end of the month, before the big game,” said Lennon.

“It’s not guaranteed. We can’t take for granted they are going to win all their games. Rangers are going to win or Celtic are going to win between now and the end of the month. That will be the premise for both coaches and both clubs.

“This is a real nutritional period, real nutritional period of the season. I know that from my own experience. You might be playing 7-8 games in the month. To ask a team to win every one of them is a big ask. 

“Unless you have got everybody fit, everyone firing and you can sort of rotate the squad a little bit. There are going to be a few bumps along the way, I think.”

Celtic reaction

There shouldn’t be too much of a panic at what happened on Sunday against Kilmarnock.

Yes, the performance was very disappointing and, let’s be honest, the defeat was deserved given how the players performed in the second half.

But if that’s the worst of it this season, then it’s time to watch the team go on a roll and really start to motor under Rodgers.

A reaction is needed against Feyenoord in the Champions League on Wednesday, both because of what happened against Killie, and also because the team needs to show some fight in the final group game of the Champions League.