Lennon aiming to finish on a high

Celtic captain Neil Lennon has et his sights on reaching the nockout stages of the Champions League before he finishes his career at Parkhead.

The Ulsterman has enjoyed success in the three domestic competitions since arriving in Scotland from Leicester in 2000, but the last 16 of Europe's premier club competition has evaded him and the Glasgow giants.

The Bank of Scotland Premier League champions need at least a point against Manchester United at home on Tuesday if they are to reach the last 16 for the first time.

After Saturday's 3-0 home win over Inverness which maintained Celtic's 15-point lead at the top of the SPL over Rangers and Aberdeen, the 35-year-old turned his attention to the visit of Sir Alex Ferguson's men - and the possible fulfilment of his dream.

But the Irishman is aware that the visitors, who won 3-2 at Old Trafford earlier in the group, will not travel north with any trepidation.

He said: "It would be the icing on the cake of my career at Celtic if we were to get to the knockout stages.

"It was the main reason I decided to stay on at Celtic this season.

"It's the one thing that I haven't done, so it's a bit of monkey on my back at the moment."

Lennon expects a confident United to arrive at Parkhead this week. "I don't think they will fear us at all," he said. "They are an experienced team, who have played in massive games for years and are under pressure every time they walk on to the pitch because of the expectations.

"It might be different because Parkhead has a special atmosphere on a European night -but I think they will be well used to it.

"I'm not sure if their squad is as strong as it has been in previous years, but certainly their starting XI and a few others coming off the bench are top class.

"I think they will be coming up here looking to win the game and make sure they qualify -so we have to be at our very best."

Celtic's hopes of qualification were dealt a blow in their last group match when they lost 3-0 to Benfica in Lisbon, and Lennon is hoping to make up for the Hoops' poorest performance in Europe this season.

He said: "That's the only game that we have been disappointing in.

"I thought we played very well at Old Trafford, and the two homes wins have been pretty comprehensive - so it would be nice to eradicate the Benfica game.

"We are in a good position. The results in the last round of games turned the table around a wee bit, but we are still in with a great chance and we have to make our home games count.

"A draw won't be a disaster, but we need to try and win the game."