Neil Lennon has said that Celtic face a tough week ahead as they pursue cup and league success.

The Celtic manager saw his players book a place in the League Cup final with a win against Falkirk last weekend and a busy schedule continues with a Scottish Cup tie at Inverness on Saturday, followed by a Scottish Premier League clash with Hearts at Tynecastle on Tuesday.

As he prepared his players for the first of two away games, Lennon said that the match at the Caledonian Stadium in the cup was amongst the hardest he could have anticipated facing.

“Inverness is difficult at any time of year,” he said. “It’s a cup game and we want to progress, but I don’t think we could have had a tougher tie than Inverness away.
 
“The players are very focused at the minute and very hungry and I know Terry will have Inverness in good form and fired up for the game but we’ll be exactly the same.
 
“I don’t know what the pitch or the conditions will be like tomorrow but if it’s nice and calm and the pitch in decent condition, it should be a really good game.”

The Celtic boss shared his admiration for Inverness and praised Terry Butcher for the way the team played, singling out team spirit as a key factor in how they performed but noting that they were playing a more attractive brand of football.

However, he noted that his side had a good record against the Highland club and said that he hoped that would continue this weekend.

Looking ahead to the league next week, Lennon said that financial problems at Tynecastle meant that Paulo Sergio’s achievements this season were even more impressive and that he expected a real test for his players.

“Every week is crucial but this is a particularly tough week,” he added. “We have Hearts away.

“We’ve already lost there this season and I think Sergio has done wonders there in the circumstances he’s had to work under, and the players as well.
 
“They put a really good run together until they lost to Inverness last week, so any time you play Hearts away it’s a difficult game, but I think the circumstances have reinforced them and galvanised them, and the players have played very well for the last month or so."

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