DAVIE HAY has predicted that Neil Lennon will reap the reward of Scotland qualifying for EURO 2020 owing to the buzz it will have given his internationalists. Callum McGregor, Ryan Christie, Leigh Griffiths and Greg Taylor were all in Belgrade as Steve Clarke’s side prevailed on penalties.
Now, speaking to The Scottish Sun, Hay believes that the win over the Serbs will mean that Celtic can benefit from the huge morale boost of ending a 22 year wait for an appearance at a major tournament.
“Jock Stein used to say to us that when we went away with Scotland we should come back to Celtic as a better player for the experience.
“It certainly adds another dimension to your game when you are successful in international football.
“I thought Christie and McGregor were both exceptional. To be fair, there wasn’t a failing in that team on Thursday night.
“But there is no question that you draw an immense amount of self-confidence from a result like that and a result that was particularly momentous.
“But now you have a huge incentive too. There is a European Championship squad to play to get into it and a massive tournament at the end of the season that these players will want to go and shine in.”
Celtic are nine points behind Rangers but have two games in hand. The period bookmarked by international breaks was poor for Neil Lennon’s side but they did book a place in the rescheduled Scottish Cup Final. An upturn in form would be welcome as the Scottish Champions look to close the gap as the look to get back on track for 10IAR.
