NEIL LENNON today came out fighting in the face of accusations a Hampden hoodoo hangs over his Hoops.

As he prepares to send out his side to face Dundee United in the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final on Sunday, the Celtic boss needs no reminding they have lost in their last three visits to the National Stadium.

The Scottish Communities League Cup semi-final defeat to St Mirren last month followed a loss to Hearts at the same stage of the Scottish Cup the previous season.

Just four weeks earlier, Celtic had been defeated in the League Cup final to Kilmarnock.

However, Lennon has a 100% record in taking his team to the last four and the club are preparing for their seventh consecutive semi-final.

And he said of their jinxed record being thrown up every time they prepare for a major game at Hampden: "Yes, that's always mentioned – but you have got to keep getting there to have any kind of record."

You must go back to the semi-final of that competition, in January last year, to find the last time Celtic emerged from Hampden victorious.

They beat Falkirk 3-1 that day to progress to the final with Killie.

Lennon's overall record as a manager at Hampden is played nine, won four, lost five.

That sequence began with a shock defeat to then-First Division Ross County in the semi-final of the 2010 Scottish Cup, just a few weeks after he became interim manager in the wake of Tony Mowbray's departure.

Now, as they head to Hampden again this weekend, Celtic's semi-final record under Lennon reads played six, won three, lost three.

But while the Hoops boss would prefer to have a much higher strike rate at the National Stadium he believes his club does not receive the praise they deserve for always being there when the semi-finals are staged.

He added: "This is our seventh semi-final in a row, and that gets overlooked sometimes."

No other club can claim anything like that consistency of appearance in semi-finals.

But Lennon knows it is emerging with trophies that counts.

And, with the SPL trophy one more point away from being retained, he has set his sights on a landing the club's first league and cup double since 2007.

He said: "The Scottish Cup was the first trophy I won as a manager, two years ago. I'd like to go back to the final again.

"But, against a Dundee United side which will be buoyant after making it into the top six on the final day before the split, we are going to have to play better than we did against St Mirren in the League Cup semi-final."