Lennon: McCoist dispute in past

Neil Lennon wants bygones to be bygones when he meets up again with Rangers boss Ally McCoist at Sunday's Old Firm clash at Ibrox.

Celtic's Scottish Cup replay win over Rangers last season saw three Light Blues players sent off and there was an ugly after-match confrontation between the Irishman and then Gers assistant McCoist, which led to the infamous Old Firm summit chaired by First Minister Alex Salmond.

With McCoist now boss after taking over from Walter Smith in the summer and facing his first such fixture since then, all eyes will be on the Ibrox technical areas before, during and after the Scottish Premier League encounter.

However, the Celtic manager was not for raking over the coals of the incident, believing that far too much was made of his altercation with McCoist in the first place.

"I don't want to even talk about that," he said. "It's history as far as I'm concerned and I'm sure it is for Ally.

"Yes, we have seen each other since then and we try not to make too much out of it.

"It's a new season. We had seven Old Firm games last season and only one of them spilled over and caused some controversy. That's not too bad."

Lennon will have the edge over McCoist in terms of managerial experience.

However, the former Celtic skipper highlighted the fact that his Old Firm rival, whose side sit top of the table one point ahead of the Parkhead men, is not a complete novice.

He said: "Ally has been under Walter for three or four years, he knows the club very well, he has freshened things up a little bit and they have started the season very well.

"Their domestic form speaks for itself, they have a lot of power and a lot of attacking options with (Nikica) Jelavic, (Steven) Naismith and (Kyle) Lafferty and they are at home.

"Old Firm games are always intense and physical, played at a frenetic pace so I assume it will be no different.

"We will try to be as positive as we can and try to get a positive result."

Lennon is giving skipper Scott Brown and striker Anthony Stokes every chance to prove their fitness for the trip to Govan.

Brown is battling against an ankle problem while Stokes has a thigh complaint, and both missed the 2-0 Europa League Group I defeat by Atletico Madrid in Spain on Thursday night.

"I think the majority of the team picks itself, really," Lennon said.

"We need to see about Stokes and Brown and see if they are in contention.

"But it's a question of keeping the players as fresh as possible.

"I thought we played well against Madrid.

"There will be a few tired legs but come tomorrow I think they should be well prepared."