Lennon: Bhoys won’t be complacent

Neil Lennon warned the rest of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League that his strongly-fancied Celtic side will not be victims of complacency this season.

The Hoops are overwhelming favourites to retain their SPL title now rivals Rangers have been re-launched in the Irn-Bru Third Division.

Hearts boss John McGlynn claimed that the only way Celtic could be threatened would be if the champions took it too easy.

Lennon, speaking at the club’s Lennoxtown training complex ahead of todays’s SPL curtain-raiser against Aberdeen at Parkhead, said: “It might be a fair comment but it is not going to happen.

“We pride ourselves on our professionalism and our standards that we have set over the last couple of years and we want to maintain that.

“Allied to that, we want to get through the next round in Europe and have a go at European football on top of the domestic league but there will be no complacency, that’s for sure.”

Lennon dismissed the notion that his side’s task will be easier in Rangers’ absence/

“It is being completely disrespectful to the rest of the clubs in the SPL,” he said.

“We did lose to teams other than Rangers last season, we lost to Hearts, Dundee United and Kilmarnock took points off us. So the competitive games have not been exclusive to Rangers.”