Neil Lennon insists accusations that Celtic have abandoned their Champions League ambitions to focus on their historic Ten In A Row bid are absolute nonsense.
The Hoops have failed to make the group stage of European football’s blue-riband club competition for the third successive year following the midweek defeat to Ferencvaros in the second qualifying round.
But they have continued to dominate domestically with consecutive titles number seven, eight and nine secured during that time as part of a potential and unprecedented quadruple Treble.
However, Lennon is adamant that the silverware at home hasn’t come at the expense of competing with cream of the continent and a club settling for just being top dogs in Scotland.
Ahead of today’s visit of Motherwell where they will look to get back on track, Lennon said of that claim: “It’s ludicrous and a lot of hype.
“It’s nothing to do with the Ten In A Row scenario. Our objective was to try to make the group stages. We haven’t and there will obviously be negative fallout which we’ve seen many times before.
“It hurts, don’t get me wrong. It’s not something I dismiss. It’s a hammer blow. I want the Champions League for the players and the club as much as anybody.
“But we have to park that now and move on. We’ve still got the Europa League to think of and also the domestic challenges that lie ahead. What you do is reset, you don’t change a lot of things and look forward to the next game.
“It’s important we’ve got another game coming up. There will be a lot of hype and criticism, we’re well aware of that. But sometimes it’s out of sync and out of balance with what I’m seeing on the pitch.”
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