Phase Two about to swing into action. Neil Lennon's planning for the new campaign is a carefully choreographed production in two parts.

After four pre-season games in Australia and Wales, the SPL opener at Easter Road on Sunday was the first staging post, taking three points the target set and achieved.

Now Lennon is implementing the next quartet of prep matches, beginning against Wolves tomorrow night, moving to Dublin this weekend and finally playing in Swansea a week tomorrow, as a prelude to resuming competitive action at Aberdeen a week on Sunday.

The unique nature of this season's start would challenge the organisational skills of any boss, let alone one who is beginning only his second term in charge.

It has been as carefully formatted as Lennon could make it. And the step up from A-League opposition to Championship to Premiership to Serie A is no coincidence.

"Basically, it is like having our pre-season in two stages," confirmed Lennon. "The first part is over, so we can regroup now.

"We had to negotiate the first stage and get the three points when it culminated in the game against Hibs.

"We are pretty pleased about that. And hopefully by the time the game against Aberdeen comes around a week on Sunday, we will have one or two more players in.

"The four games between now and then will hopefully get the rest of the players up to match speed and we will have a bit of momentum going into the game at Pittodrie."

The manager is confident Mick McCarthy's Wolves will stretch his squad that extra yard, and explained the thinking behind taking on Premiership opposition at this point in their quest to hone their fitness and sharpness.

Lennon said: "Looking at the game tomorrow, there will be a lot of changes from the team we put out against Hibs.

"That's because we have got the two games this weekend, against Inter Milan and a Republic of Ireland League Select in the Dublin Super Cup, then Swansea next midweek. Some of the guys need football, the ones who did not figure much or at all on Sunday.

"I am talking about the likes of Charlie Mulgrew, Cha Du-Ri, Georgios Samaras, Shaun Maloney, Victor Wanyama and Daniel Majstorovic. It will be an opportunity for these guys to get a run out.

"However, even with these changes, we will still be able to put out a decent side."

The Parkhead boss knows expectation is high as the Celtic supporters prepare to see their team play at home for the first time since they received a rousing send-off on the May day the league title was lost.

While there will be no trophies on the line this time, Lennon revealed there is still every reason for the men selected to treat the game seriously.

With such a big squad, getting game time is critical for everyone, but especially for the men who have been playing catch-up since the group began re-assembling in stages at the end of last month.

Lennon has been assessing them all very closely in training at Lennoxtown. But there is nothing quite like a game situation for providing a true indication of form and fitness.

He said: "This game will give me a good chance to gauge the rest of the players and where they are. I have no worries about them whatsoever. And I might just have a look at a different formation as well, to see how we go with that."

That could mean 4-3-3 or even a dabble at 3-5-2, a system in which Lennon was a pivotal figure when Martin O'Neill was in charge of the club.

Certainly, with the plethora of central defenders in the squad, and with a clutch of forward-going full-backs at his disposal, he has the personnel to give it a go.

What is already established is that Celtic have achieved the goal of hitting the ground running in their pursuit of a successful SPL campaign.

The bonus was seeing Rangers fail to negotiate the first hurdle when they dropped two points at home to Hearts 24 hours earlier.

But Lennon denied he felt under any extra pressure as a result of the champions' flag-day slip up.

He said: "We just focused on what we had to do. We wanted to win our game because we knew we then faced a two-week break before we played in the league again. It feels like going into an international break."

Lennon continued: "Obviously, with the first game coming so early, there was a concern about getting the team right.

"There were a few decisions to be made and it was really close about maybe going with Majstorovic. We agonised over that on Saturday night, but decided to start with Kelvin Wilson and Glenn Loovens."

It was not the only area of the side which presented selection dilemmas for the manager and his support team.

But if these are the most difficult problems Lennon has to face this season, he will be a happy man.

He reflected on a plan well executed and said: "James Forrest came on in the second half and gave us an injection of pace. He looked very, very sharp and we looked very good going forward. James has had a very good pre-season and was perhaps unlucky not to start the game.

"But Kris Commons, who began on the right for us at Easter Road, is always going to be a goal threat. He was feeling his back a little bit at half-time, and we decided to give him a little bit longer before bringing on James.

"At this stage of the season, he's may be a little bit undercooked, anyway. James came on and gave us that little bit extra, which is exactly what I asked him to do."