Lennon dreams of landing title with Celtic

Neil Lennon admits he cannot stop dreaming about the moment he finally lifts the championship trophy and insists it will be the greatest experience of his life.

The Celtic midfielder is just three points away from making that dream reality but he confesses that he cannot believe the success he has enjoyed since arriving at Parkhead.

He gave up life in the Premiership to follow manager Martin O'Neill from Leicester City to Glasgow because he believed that O'Neill was capable of turning things around at the club Lennon has supported all his life.

But he admits that even he didn't think that success would come so quickly.

A win against bottom club St Mirren will guarantee Celtic the league title for the first time since Wim Jansen's short reign in season 1997/98 and will be the second step towards the domestic Treble, having already won the CIS Insurance League Cup.

Although Lennon believes Saints will try to make life as difficult as possible at Parkhead, he is determined to get his hands on a championship winner's medal for the first time ever.

"My mind has wandered," admits Lennon. "I keep thinking about what the feeling will be like. It is hard not to do that.

"I have never been in this position before and I want to make the most of it.

"The greatest reward will be tomorrow. It would mean everything for me to win the league with Celtic. The best moment of my footballing career without a doubt.

"I came here to try and win things but I would never have expected to win the title in my first season with the club.

"St Mirren are not going to give it to us on a plate so we will have to adopt the attitude we have all season.

"The lads are buzzing. We are almost there but we can't quite touch it yet.

"There is no real rush but it would be nice to do it tomorrow if we could."

Lennon - who picked up the player of the month award for March - will have 25 friends and members of his family at the game, including eight-year old daughter Alisha.

And, if Celtic do win the title this weekend, he insists it will all be down to the influence that O'Neill has had on the club.

At the end of last season Celtic finished an embarrassing 21 points behind biggest rivals Rangers and both John Barnes and Kenny Dalglish were forced to part company with the club.

Now O'Neill's achievements so far have allowed the Parkhead faithful to dare to hope that better times are ahead after so many years of dominance by the Ibrox side.

Lennon believes to have achieved that in his first season is remarkable.

He added: "You just have to look around the club and see the smiling faces and the performances of the players.

"That is the effect he has had on the club.

"He has instilled a work ethic among the players. We were 21 points behind last year, we are 19 points ahead this year.

"It is a different kind of pressure because you are expected to win things.

"This is a very important 90 minutes and we need the attitude to be spot-on.

"This club is big and you can feel from the stands how much the fans want us to do well.

"Most people would say what we have achieved is remarkable. It is not easy winning games and we have only lost one, which fantastic."