Celtic remain nine points ahead of Old Firm rivals Rangers.
Hibernian manager Neil Lennon has told Sky Sports that he believes there is a Scottish Premiership title race beginning to arise despite Celtic sitting nine points clear at the top.
Rangers earned an excellent 5-3 away win over Hamilton on Sunday to move them back into second, after ex-Celt Lennon saw his Hibernian side beat Aberdeen on Saturday.
In what turned out to be a good weekend for Rangers, Celtic also dropped points at the top after Brendan Rodgers made eight changes to his Hoops side to face St. Johnstone ahead of Thursday’s clash against Zenit. They drew 0-0.
Lennon, who played and managed Celtic, believes there is still a title race on the cards with the Old Firm rivals still going head to head in the league on March 11 at Ibrox and once more when the league splits in half.
“I think it’s a bit early to say that,” Lennon said, when asked if his side are showing the form of a team capable of finishing second. “Rangers had a good win yesterday. But we are in touching distance of Aberdeen and Rangers.
“The league has panned out the way I thought it might. Celtic are ahead, Rangers and Aberdeen, and the rest are fighting for places in the top six. There’s a lot of football to go. The league has become really competitive.
“The title race is still on, yeah. Rangers and Aberdeen will believe so. Celtic have had a catalogue of injuries, they go to Zenit on Thursday. He prioritised that over the game yesterday. The season is far more competitive.”
Celtic have the tough task of seeing off Roberto Mancini’s Zenit for a second time on Thursday in Russia as they look to book their place in the last 16 of the Europa League, taking a 1-0 advantage into the second leg.
They then face a difficult trip to Pittodrie on Sunday afternoon to face Derek McInnes’ Aberdeen while Rangers will also face a tougher task then their weekend clash, when they play host to Hearts on Saturday.
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