Lennon is preparing for the fourth of seven Old Firm games this season

Neil Lennon has revealed that the glut of games against Rangers has left him suffering from Old Firm fatigue.

This season's three cup derbies added to the four league meetings between Celtic and Rangers will break the post-war record for Old Firm matches.

"It's probably too many but that's just the way fixtures have thrown it up," said Celtic manager Lennon.

"The supporters might not think it -they might like it every week but, for the managers, four would be plenty."

The 2-2 draw in the recent Scottish Cup fifth-round tie forced a replay and the Glasgow rivals will also meet in the final of the Co-operative Insurance Cup.

"Obviously, you have the four in the league, an early cup draw in the Scottish cup and I wouldn't say it's inevitable that there's going to be a cup final round the corner, but it's just the way the fixtures have fallen," said Lennon, speaking ahead of the SPL game against Rangers at Celtic Park on Sunday.

"I think it takes a lot out of both sets of players as well at times and there is a lot of hype, it fills papers for days beforehand and days after.

"It's an important game, obviously, but if there were less of those games, you'd probably look forward to them more."

But defender Charlie Mulgrew believes featuring in the derbies regularly can only help players.

Maybe we might be a bit fresher, I don't know. Maybe the extra game will do Rangers the world of good Neil Lennon

"You have just got to remember it's a game of football and the main aim is to get the three points and try not to get involved in all the hype or the stuff off the ball," said the 24-year-old.

"The more you play in it, the more you learn about the atmosphere and about how big a game it is.

"It's hard to put your finger on what specific thing you learn, but the more experience you have the better."

Meanwhile, Lennon is unsure whether Rangers' midweek exertions against Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League - the two clubs shared a 1-1 draw at Ibrox - will give Celtic an advantage.

"When I played you just wanted to play games - you didn't have to do much training in between," he added.

"Maybe we might be a bit fresher, I don't know. Maybe the extra game will do Rangers the world of good. We will have to wait to see what happens on Sunday."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version