Neil Lennon admits Celtic face a brutal path in Europe but won’t let his troops use the “ridiculous” run as Champions League cop out.
The Hoops kick off their qualifying campaign in just eight days when they head to Bosnia to take on Sarajevo in the first round.
The SPFL champions will need to negotiate four rounds, with eight games in eight weeks, to get to the promised land of the group stage.
Lennon has slammed the hoops some clubs need to jump through to join the big boys but insists no one at Parkhead can use the heavy workload as an excuse.
He said: “The eight games in eight weeks schedule is ridiculous.
“That’s almost a quarter of a season before a ball has hardly been kicked in the Premiership.
“We have touched on this for years and there is no benefit for any team involved. There is no respite at all for the players, it’s very difficult.
“But I can’t think of the European qualifiers as being arduous. We have to take it on. We have to plan as best we can for them.
“The rewards are great if we get there – for everyone, not just Celtic.
“It’s great for the Scottish game and I would really love to do it again.
“It would be special but it is tinged with the fact you have to go through four qualifying rounds.
“That’s a big ask being the first games of the new season but we just need to get our head around it.
“Everything we are doing in Austria and Switzerland will be geared towards the qualifiers.”
