John Kennedy wants Celtic to start upturn in form with Ibrox win

Interim boss John Kennedy is looking for Celtic’s return to success to begin with an Old Firm win at Ibrox on Sunday.

After winning a remarkable and unprecedented domestic quadruple treble, the Hoops go into their final game against city rivals Rangers having lost their Premiership title to the Light Blues for the first time in 10 years, trailing them by 20 points and still on the hunt for a new manager following the departure of Neil Lennon in February.

The Betfred Cup was won by St Johnstone and Celtic were knocked out of the Scottish Cup by Rangers, albeit Steven Gerrard’s side lost to the McDiarmid Park outfit last week in the next round.

Kennedy believes there is no time like the present to start the rehabilitation and stressed that football fortunes can swiftly turn.

The former Celtic defender said: “Football can change very quickly. We’ve seen it from the dominant success we’ve had to going into a tough season very quickly.

“It quickly can change and it’s the same going the other way. Every opportunity you receive you’ve got to try and make that the turning point.

“We’ve had a tough time this year, we make no excuses for that, we’re responsible for that, but we have to then turn that around.

“At a club like Celtic, you have to do it as quickly as possible and get back to winning ways.

“We don’t like being starved of silverware. We’ve been used to success for so long and this season has been very alien to us because we’ve not managed to win anything and it’s not something we want to continue.

“The next game is Rangers, can we set our stall out to make this the start point of the next era of success?

“We have to do that, whether it’s Sunday or the next game, we have to get the wheels in motion in terms of how we move forward.”

With three fixtures remaining, Rangers are looking to finish the league season unbeaten but Celtic left-back Greg Taylor insists bringing that to an end is not on his mind.

The Scotland international said: “I wouldn’t say so. It is a massive game for all different reasons.

“The biggest reason is it is the next one for us and we have to go and put on a performance for the people watching at home.

“A game of this size, regardless of the situation in the league, has always got a lot at stake so we are looking forward to that.”