Naylor spurs Celtic on ahead of title run-in

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Lee Naylor insists Celtic have the mental strength to outlast Rangers and secure a fourth consecutive Scottish Premier League title. The champions return to action after the two-week international break on Saturday and will go six points clear of their arch-rivals with victory over Hamilton. That will put the onus on Rangers to follow suit when they travel to rock-bottom Falkirk on Sunday afternoon.

Celtic blew their most recent chance to open up a significant gap when they were held to a 2-2 draw at Dundee United a week and a half ago. But full-back Naylor has no doubt he and his team-mates will handle the pressure when it matters.

He said: "Without a shadow of a doubt, you would disappear into a shell if you couldn't cope with the expectation or level of pressure at this club.

"Especially when you get a few bad results and when that happens, it's a case of, 'What happens now?' Do you go hide from it? Do you retreat?

"I don't think anyone here over the past three or four years has done that and I think that's credit to the gaffer, that he has selected players who are big characters, players who are able to pull people through matches on difficult days.

"That's something a manager has to consider when he's signing players for a club like Celtic: can they cope with the pressure?"

With nine games remaining, 29-year-old Naylor can already see the finishing line. "It's now a case of finishing the job off," he said. "Now we are coming to the end of the season, it's important we keep our minds on what we have to do. The manager will select his team accordingly, but no matter who plays, we are winners. We don't like to lose, we put everything into our games and I have no doubt that we will be raring to go in the last nine games."

He added: "Everywhere you go in Scotland, you have to battle. Especially when you are a defender and you have to cope with everything that comes into the box and also handle people running at you outside the box. You have to win every game at this club."

The result at Tannadice could have been even worse for Celtic had Naylor not netted a late leveller with a spectacular volley. He said: "We'd been pushing forward and I stayed up. Later, when I looked at the replay, I didn't realise that I'd caught the ball that high, so it was a good goal, a really good goal. I've never really scored a tap-in.

"My Celtic goals have been good and the manager actually saw me score one of my best goals – when I was still a kid at Wolves. I've scored a few 25-yard volleys and a few really good free-kicks but I'm a defender now."