Lennon tells his Bhoys to beware of ‘dangerous’ Rangers

NEIL LENNON has warned his Celtic side about “dangerous” Rangers ahead of tonight’s Old Firm clash at Parkhead.

The Bhoys’ 2-1 win over Kilmarnock at the weekend extended their winning run in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League to eight games to take them to within one point of their city rivals at the top of the table.

At one stage the gap between the two clubs was 15 points — albeit Celtic had two games in hand — but the champions have slipped up in recent weeks and their lacklustre 2-1 defeat at St Mirren on Christmas Eve gives Lennon’s men the opportunity to lead the table going into 2012.

Celtic head into the match as favourites but the Parkhead boss was keen to dampen down the prospect of anyone in the Bhoys camp taking victory for granted.

“Rangers are always dangerous opposition, regardless of the situation or the timing of the game,” he said.

“So I don’t think the mentality of either team will change going into the game. We know if we win we go top and our focus is on winning. If that’s the rewards then so be it.

“We are in a good vein of form but we are playing our biggest rivals and there is not much between the teams at the minute.’’

The Irishman has been surprised at how quickly his side have whittled away Rangers’ lead but was quick to point out that it can go the other way again before the season ends.

“I always believed we would close the gap but I didn’t realise it would be so quickly, but that is testament to the players’ consistency,” said Lennon.

“But even though I am a young manager, I’ve been in football a long time and nothing is won in October and nothing is won in December.

“There is a huge amount of football to be played over the next four or five months. We have been looking at one game at a time and trying to eat away at the lead.

Meanwhile Rangers manager Ally McCoist has stressed the importance of his players keeping their discipline tonight.

The Scottish champions witnessed the dismissals of Lee McCulloch and Dorin Goian in Saturday’s 2-1 Clydesdale Bank Premier League defeat at St Mirren.

Although McCoist thought both of those red cards were harsh — the club has appealed against McCulloch’s sending-off — the Rangers boss will be mindful of what happened the last time they visited Celtic Park.

Steven Whittaker, Madjid Bougherra and El-Hadji Diouf were all shown red cards on a night of drama which saw the Hoops triumph in the Scottish Cup tie thanks to Mark Wilson’s winner.

McCoist said: “Discipline is vitally important in all games, that goes without saying. It’s important you show discipline and keep your players on the park in every game.”

McCulloch was sent-off for violent conduct following an incident with Graham Carey but, with the Scottish Football Association unlikely to convene a fast track tribunal hearing until Thursday, he will be available for selection against Celtic as a result of his appeal. McCoist claimed he felt aggrieved by referee Steve McLean‘s decision and was not simply exploiting an SFA loophole ahead of the derby.