Rangers vs Celtic: Neil Lennon refuses to contemplate Old Firm defeat
Neil Lennon: "We are not even contemplating losing the game, we are going there with a positive frame of mind"; watch Rangers vs Celtic on Saturday; coverage begins from 11:30am on Sky Sports Football and Main Event, kick-off 12:30pm
Thursday 31 December 2020 13:21, UK
Celtic boss Neil Lennon says he is "not even contemplating losing the game" as he looks ahead to Saturday's Old Firm match with Rangers at Ibrox.
Steven Gerrard's side won the opening Glasgow derby of the season 2-0 at Celtic Park in October, a result which sparked a run of just two wins in 12 and calls for Lennon to go.
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But the Hoops have rallied in recent weeks and although they trail their rivals by 16 points in the Scottish Premiership with three games in hand, they are beginning to look more like the side that completed an historic quadruple treble when they beat Hearts on penalties in the delayed 2020 Scottish Cup Final on December 20.
Odsonne Edouard and Ryan Christie, who missed the earlier Rangers game due to Covid-19 issues, are back in the side, Leigh Griffiths is almost back to full fitness and midfielders David Turnbull and Ismaila Soro have emerged as regulars.
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Lennon noted the importance of the second Old Firm match of the campaign and pointed out that his team has improved markedly in the intervening period, leaving him in good spirits ahead of the game.
"You don't want to lose it, you want to get a positive result, either three points or a point," he said.
"We are not even contemplating losing the game, we are going there with a positive frame of mind and we have to play, and we have to play a lot better than we did here in October.
"We have Christie, Edouard, Griffiths, Turnbull, Soro, they are all available to play so hopefully that will give us a real spark going into this game.
"We are playing well, everybody is fit, available and there is good competition for places.
"We are creating a lot of chances which we hadn't been doing in that [poor] spell and we have been looking a lot more assured at the back, so the players have found their rhythm.
"I wouldn't say I am relaxed about it, you never are going into a game like this, but we are looking forward to it."
