Watch Kilmarnock vs Celtic on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports Football from 7pm; Kick-off: 7.45pm)
Tuesday 21 January 2020 17:19, UK
Neil Lennon says any talk of a Celtic demise is premature and remains positive as he looks towards the second half of the season.
In their last Scottish Premiership fixture, Celtic lost 2-1 in the Old Firm game and allowed Rangers to move within two points of the league leaders.
When asked about the idea of a potential changing of the guard, manager Lennon said: "I think it is very premature, yes.
"Looking at the league table, I think we have are still top of the league even though they have a game in hand.
"I can't control what other people think. You expect it sometimes off the back of a defeat but a lot of people over the years have been proved wrong."
Lennon was also quick to point to the experience in his squad and how that may play a role in the rest of the season.
"I think that experience might stand them in good stead, although every season is different," Lennon said ahead of Wednesday's trip to Kilmarnock, live on Sky Sports Football.
"We've got a good strong core of players in there who are winners and they won't want to give anything up, so the second half of the season should be exciting."
The Hoops boss believes upcoming opponents Kilmarnock may return to their best following the sacking of Angelo Alessio.
"We know that they're a tough nut to crack, and we know that they're organised," he said. "At Rugby Park, particularly last season, they had a good record against most teams.
"I think they'll go back to the way they played under Steve [Clarke] and they'll make life difficult for us. But we've got some very good players and really good attacking intent."
The league leaders will be without defender Hatem Abd Elhamed for Wednesday's match, however Lennon shared positive news on the injury.
"He had a scan so the injury isn't as bad as what we first thought. I don't know the length of time on it but not as long as we thought."
Lennon confirmed that Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv midfielder Ismaili Soro is undergoing a medical in Israel ahead of a potential move to Celtic, but is awaiting confirmation on a work permit.
"He's doing his medicals at the minute so that takes a day or two," said Lennon. "It's governed by the Israeli FA so it's a day to day thing to do the medicals so that's ongoing at the minute.
Asked how long the paperwork could take, Lennon said: "I don't know, hopefully not so long. A few days maybe and we can get him over here and get him cracking."
