'I've got the evidence' - Why Neil Lennon still backs himself as Celtic boss

One word stands out during Neil Lennon's in-depth interview to preview Celtic's Scottish Cup final meeting with Hearts - "evidence".

It's a word that comes up more than once as the manager outlines why he still believes he is the right man to lead the club.

Season 2020-21 has been a tough one so far for the 49-year-old, but he's been through much of it before - and that's exactly why he is not letting panic set in.

Celtic lost just one 2020 home match before lockdown. Since football returned in August, they've lost four. But, as he tells BBC Scotland, he feels "galvanised".

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"We know what's at stake," he says of the club's pursuit of a fourth consecutive domestic treble. "It's a game we dearly want to win for so many reasons. The gravity of the achievement is not beyond us.

"It's important to us to try and complete the quadruple treble, which will probably never be seen again. It's really important for me personally. As a manager, it would be my first treble and for the players to finish off what's been a magnificent four years for the club."

There will not be a fifth treble in a row after Celtic exited this season's League Cup in the second round, while Europe is over for another campaign after a poor Europa League group stage.

That has left Sunday's match, rearranged from last season, and winning a 10th top-flight title in a row as Celtic and Lennon's principal targets.

Lennon was the manager who started Celtic's current run of title wins in 2012 and, having left in 2014, he returned in 2019 after Ronny Deila and Brendan Rodgers had carried on his initial success.

'I don't think we panicked'

While results have improved with recent wins against Lille and Kilmarnock, Celtic's record overall this season has been a downturn on previous campaigns - 15 wins, five draws and seven defeats in all competitions.

Six of those defeats and four of the draws came in Celtic's most recent 14 games and led to fan protests and two club votes of confidence in the manager.

"In my first spell, in the second season, we were going through a similar sort of run and we had had a really good season the season before," Lennon explains.

"Do you radically change your training methods and radically change the way you approach things? We didn't do it at that stage and we went on a great run.

"The last two results have really lifted the group and the club as a whole. I don't think we panicked. I've got evidence that the processes and the philosophy's right and my own demeanour with the players hasn't changed as well. If you start showing cracks in your own demeanour, players pick up on that.

"You may never convince some of the doubters. We've won four trophies, this is a potential fifth. I've got the evidence to back up that I can do the job. The majority of the fans are with us and there's a unity there. We understand the frustrations of some of the fans as well."

Familiar foe at Hampden

Hearts lost to Celtic in 2019 Scottish Cup final

Standing in the way of history for Celtic are Hearts, still wounded after an SPFL vote to curtail the season during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic relegated them to the second tier.

And Lennon, whose side defeated Hearts in 2019 final, is not taking anything for granted as both sides prepare for a surreal cup final in front of no fans amid the ongoing restrictions.

"We respect Hearts, excellent coach and a good group of players," he adds. "We have to be right on the day.

"The lack of atmosphere has definitely been to our detriment. Players at the club that have been here a long time, they feed off the energy. We try to find solutions to that in whatever we can.

"The whole thing about this year is it's just not routine, it's just not normal."