Neil Lennon insists the team are unified despite their poor form as they prepare to host Rennes in the Europa League tomorrow. Celtic are 12 points behind Rangers in the SPL and have claimed just two points from three games to sit third in Group I, level with tonight's French opponents. After Saturday's goalless home draw against Hibs, Lennon described some of his players as passengers and threatened to "out'' those he believed were lacking effort. Speaking yesterday, he said: "I'm not going to go over the top on the players. They have been brilliant since I took over. It's a short-term problem but I need to rectify it very, very quickly and just get them playing to their potential on a more consistent basis. There is no dressing room unrest. We've got a great relationship with them.''
Glenn Loovens and Kris Commons are both in contention after recovering from hamstring and calf injuries respectively. Ki Sung-yueng is a doubt with a virus and Joe Ledley (calf) and Charlie Mulgrew (hamstring) are out while Badr El-Kaddouri is cup-tied.
Lennon's opposite number Frederic Antonetti wants his side to seize their opportunity at Parkhead. Antonetti respects Celtic's European pedigree, but is determined his Rennes side head for home with a first group win to keep their hopes of qualification alive. He said: "It would be a massive, massive achievement to be able to beat Celtic at home. Celtic is a big name on the European stage, so it's a massive challenge. We're not going to just turn up and watch them play. We're going to come here and try to win the game.''