Celtic boss Neil Lennon wary of triple-treble talk ahead of Scottish Cup final
Thursday 23 May 2019 16:37, UK
Neil Lennon has warned Celtic to "play the game and not the occasion" when they face Hearts in the Scottish Cup final on Saturday.
Celtic stand on the brink of achieving an unprecedented triple-treble of domestic trophies after successfully defending their Scottish Premiership and Scottish League Cup titles earlier this season.
Hearts are aiming to win the Scottish Cup for the first time since the 2011-12 campaign, and Lennon has warned his players to take nothing for granted at Hampden Park.
He said: "Hearts are a very difficult obstacle for us to overcome so there's no point me sitting here telling you how I'm going to feel when we win the cup.
"That will hopefully all come at half past five on Saturday.
"In the meantime, I'm just wary of everyone talking about treble trebles, bus parades and blah blah blah...
"We've got to play the game and not the occasion. That's really important. It's the message we will be hammering over to the players over the next two days."
Celtic captain Scott Brown is set to feature in the final after overcoming a toe injury but Lennon admits doubts remain over the availability of Oliver Burke, who is struggling with a knee problem.
"We're hoping he (Burke) will train tomorrow. He's got a slight irritation in the knee, on the patella, so we'll see how he is tomorrow.
"Browny is great, he trained really well yesterday. He came through the sessions with flying colours so we've got no issues with Scott."
Lennon has won the Scottish Cup six times, four times as a player and twice as a manager, but is still expecting some pre-match nerves on the morning of the final.
"It's the first trophy that I won as a manager against Motherwell," he said. "The morning of the second one when we beat Hibs, my stomach was churning. We won the double and it was a great day.
"This will be no different I'm sure. But it's not about me, it's about the players who are on the cusp of something special."
