Lennon feels Celtic have gained 'psychological lift'

Neil Lennon is hopeful that the Scottish Cup final win over Hearts can mark a turning point in the season for Celtic.

He believes the team can play with freedom as they look to catch up in the league.

Sunday’s win at Hampden, on penalties after drawing 3-3 with the Edinburgh side, saw Celtic complete a fourth consecutive domestic treble.

But Lennon has been under pressure after a disappointing run that saw the team exit the Europa League, dumped out of the League Cup by Ross County and falling well behind Rangers in the race for the Premiership title.

Going into a busy festive period that sees the defending champions play Ross County in the league on Wednesday before playing Hamilton and Dundee United ahead of the January 2 meeting with Rangers, Lennon feels his team have had a shot in the arm.

“There is a lot of good feeling around the place, players are galvanised and full of energy,” he said.

“You are hoping a big burden of pressure is off them and they can go out and play a bit more freely and with a little less anxiety as well and chip away at winning games and finding our consistency.

“But there’s no doubt it is a fantastic achievement for them and it has given them a huge psychological lift.”

Rangers have opened up a 16-point gap at the top of the table, though Celtic have three games in hand, and Lennon believes it’s far from impossible for his side to overcome the odds and win the league.

“We completed one part of what was required for us and now we have to dig deep and claw back a big deficit but it is not beyond us,” he said.

“We won another treble and we can park that now, it won’t be in the back of players’ minds anymore and hopefully we can fully focus as a group on what lies ahead of us.

“What we have to do is find consistency of performance but the players know that.”