IT is a huge few days now for Celtic coming up. Retaining the three domestic trophies is the major priority this season, of course, and the Betfred Cup is the first step to doing that.

If Celtic turn up this afternoon against Hibs, I can’t see any other outcome than a win for Neil Lennon’s side and yet another final appearance.

I know that Hibs got a result against Celtic a few weeks back at Easter Road, but Celtic seem to have gone up a gear since then, and on the big occasion at Hampden, I don’t think Hibs will be able to live with them.

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Having said that, Neil will be stressing to the players that the job still needs to be done. Not that many of them need to be told, because you don’t rattle off 29 consecutive wins in up competitions by allowing complacency to creep into your game.

In a cup tie, anything can happen, and you can have a bad day at the office at any time, so Celtic’s run has really been incredible.

Ok, some will say that the demise of Rangers has made it easier for Celtic, but cup games are a different beast to league games. You can’t slip up at all, whereas you might get away with the odd off-day on league duty. Slip up here, and you’re out.

In my experience as a player and a manager, there is always a danger of something unforeseen happening that takes the game away from you, so what Celtic have achieved is nothing short of remarkable.

Neil will know himself that things can go wrong, what with one of the first games of his initial spell in charge of the club being the League Cup semi-final defeat to Ross County all those years ago.

The thing is, the more that the run goes on, the hungrier they will be to preserve it.

Brendan Rodgers has to take credit for getting the ball rolling, and all credit too to the players for retaining that appetite for success and that winning mentality under Neil Lennon.

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If you look at the Celtic team, there is a core of players there who must have medals coming out of their ears now. The sheer amount of medals each of those players has will tell you how central they have been to that run, and there have been a few of them.

I’ve made finals and lost them a few times as a player and a manager, and you don’t even want to go up for that runners-up medal. That will be a big driver for these guys like Scott Brown, Callum McGregor and James Forrest.

I think that McGregor will be the next Celtic player to commit his future to the club, and he deserves a new deal as a reward for his consistently excellent performances.

Like Forrest, he paid his dues, and was even out on loan at Notts County to cut his teeth. Slowly but surely, he forced his way into the team, and he blossomed under Brendan Rodgers.

He’s an automatic starter now and he has a great relationship in the middle of the park with Brown.

If those two are fit, they will always be in there at the base of the midfield. They are so key to Celtic, and I hope to be hearing of McGregor committing his long-term future to the club soon.

Those three players especially must be beginning to realise themselves that they are playing themselves into the history of the club.

The way they have handled the pressure is remarkable. The expectation this afternoon is that Celtic will go out and sweep Hibs aside to make the final, and it’s not always easy to be in that position.

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It can be a lot of pressure to be placed on anyone’s shoulders, but sometimes it helps you rise to the challenge, and this team have certainly done it.

The prospect of 30 wins in cups on the bounce is quite something, it takes your breath away really and I can’t see another team matching it in the future.

You never get sick of that success as a player or as a fan. At Celtic, success may be expected and be a regular occurrence - these days at least - but that feeling of celebrating a major success with the supporters never gets old.

I can’t see anything else than that phenomenal run continuing today.