NEIL Lennon last night dismissed talk of a crisis at Celtic and described them as “clear favourites” to win the Premiership again.

The Hibernian manager insisted Rangers were the only team with any hope of challenging his former club and ruled out the chances of Hearts, Aberdeen and his own team, despite the obvious regression of the double treble winners who are hoping for an eighth title in a row.

Many Celtic supporters are worried that their team’s lack of signings, plus the poor form of several key players, has given their rivals an opportunity to stop history being made, something unthinkable last May when the Scottish Cup was won.

However, Lennon, who won eight league titles as a Celtic player and manager, believes normal service will soon be resumed even if Brendan Rodgers’s side will find it tougher over this campaign.

Lennon said: “Is there a title race on? I don’t see why not.

“With the investment Rangers have made in their squad and the improvement of other clubs, it will be far more competitive.

“But I still think Celtic will win the league, simply because of their strength in depth.

"Once they hit the ground running Celtic are going to be hard team to stop. I still say they are clear favourites for the title.

"I would like to think we’ll be there or thereabouts. I’m just not sure we’re consistent enough. We’ve had a good calendar year, had a few adverse performances.

“But to say we would be in the running for the title would be folly.

“I don’t know what Craig Levein would say about Hearts but it would be very difficult.

“It takes a lot of mental strength and it takes a lot of consistency of performance, consistency of preparation.

“And you need to be able to handle the big games, the pressure games, better than most.

“As you’ve seen over the last couple of years, Celtic have done that better than anybody – by a long, long way.”

Lennon is one of the most decorated people in the history of Celtic but he recalled times when even his winning teams would struggle, which would cause concern among the support, but they still managed to find their form and a way to win.

Lennon said: “I have seen this many times before over the years under managers I played with, Martin (O'Neill) and Gordon (Strachan). I experienced it myself as a manager.

"I still think Celtic will win the league. They have the strength in depth and the quality of player. Just like everybody else, they are going through a little bit of a blip."