Hibernian boss Neil Lennon rules out teams catching Celtic
Tuesday 12 December 2017 12:09, UK
Hibernian head coach Neil Lennon has ruled out anyone catching Celtic but expects the real race to be for second in the Scottish Premiership.
Lennon's Hibs fought back against his former club Celtic to earn a 2-2 draw on Sunday, leaving them three points off second-placed Rangers.
But Hibernian have no chance of mounting a title challenge, according to Lennon, who believes Brendan Rodgers' side are "a class apart" from the trailing pack.
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"Celtic are not catchable," Lennon told Sky Sports News. "They're five points clear with a game in hand, got the Champions League campaign out of the way now.
"This will be an opportunity for Celtic to freshen the players up a little bit and still maintain their consistency.
"They're a class apart, there's no question about that, the way they move the ball, their speed of thought, it's a real test whenever you're playing against them.
"So I have no thoughts about anyone catching Celtic. I think it's going to be a good race for second place.
"At the start of the season I would say there's Celtic in their own bracket, then there's Rangers and Aberdeen, and then the rest are fighting for the top six or to get into that bracket.
"So we've given ourselves a decent platform for that, but Celtic will run away with it again I think."
While Lennon believes his Hibernian side are in a good place to challenge for second, having already played Celtic and with Rangers coming up on Wednesday, he is wary of the impact Graeme Murty has had in caretaker charge at Ibrox.
"There's a confidence about them," said Lennon. "Graeme has done an excellent job under difficult circumstances. The players have responded to what he's asked them to do.
"[There is] a bit less pressure on him because if it goes well everyone is saying 'give him the job', if it doesn't go well you can say 'he was only filling in', but I think he's handling the situation very well."
