The Double is now a MUST for Lennon

Out of Europe before Christmas, the Hoops have no choice but to refocus on their domestic schedule.

The League Cup is gone, the shock Celtic Park loss to Morton in the Third Round having put paid to the club’s Treble chance.

This afternoon it is the Scottish that comes into focus with Hearts hosting the champions in one of the day’s two televised clashes.

The fixture is one of the best the country has to offer, with the financial problems of the Edinburgh club unlikely to dampen the atmosphere.

As much as Europe has been a priority for all concerned, there can be no mistaking the fact this is a tie Celtic’s supporters would enjoy winning.

With the resources they have at their disposal, Celtic should do that. They should win the Cup, in fact.

The League, as I have stated since before the campaign kicked off, is a given.

So we are talking about the Double.

However, as the League Cup losses to Morton, St Mirren and Killie in successive seasons have proved, when it comes to knock-out competition, you just can’t be sure.

And were they to go out of the Scottish, the domestic campaign would have a distinctly flat look to it.

Therefore the Celtic players can’t allow the disappointment of the midweek loss to Milan to take root.

And disappointment is the word. I thought beforehand that Neil Lennon’s side would beat the Italians if they took their chances.

As it happened, they didn’t really create any.

Virgil Van Dijk, one of the big positives of the season, could have done better when finding himself in great position.

The Dutchman didn’t manage it. To be fair, he forced a save out of the keeper. Also, he is a defender.

Inevitably there was fall-out afterwards, with some supporters questioning why the club did not make a big signing to replace Gary Hooper.

I could not understand that.

Hooper was not a big signing by Celtic. He was signed from Scunthorpe United for a couple of million pounds.

It was through his performances for the club that he had become a £5million signing.

That is the way the club do business.

In fact, in signing Teemu Pukki, a Finnish internationalist playing in the Bundesliga, they pushed that policy further than they usually do.

I think he will show himself to be a decent player in time. The same too, may well apply to Derk Boerrigter, who has been unlucky with injury since signing from Ajax.

At any level, though, teams can find their efforts sabotaged by poor defending.

That was very much the case on Tuesday, with Celtic’s marking at the first, from Kaka genuinely shocking.

That doesn’t make Celtic a bad team. But it does put the pressure on them to win the Double.