NEIL LENNON has told his Celtic players to put all thoughts of leaving the club in January out of their minds and ordered them to concentrate on the task of overhauling Rangers to secure 10 in-in-row.

Lennon puts a portion of the blame for the poor form of some of his players earlier in the season on the extended transfer window, with several stars – most notably Odsonne Edouard – having their heads turned by speculation over their futures.

With Edouard and others now finally starting to show their best form once more, Lennon has moved to ensure that none of his top stars become unsettled again at such a critical juncture in the campaign.

“We are certainly not looking to sell - that’s for sure,” Lennon said.

“We have spoken to them already and told them no one is going.

“We may have to take a view in the summer. But the message is, ‘settle yourselves down and concentrate on the job in hand.’

“It’s a great club and they’ve done great things and have a possibility of doing more great things. But you are talking about four or five months.

“It’s not a massive chunk out of your life to really knuckle down and play and do what you are good at.

“We are not going to put up with any agitation anymore. Of course it was [a problem in the last transfer window].

“It’s natural. Some players are ambitious and will feel like they need a new challenge. We understand that. But we have a huge challenge ahead of us here and we want all our best players to be a part of that.

“I’ve definitely noticed a sea change in the attitude of some of the players and their body language and their performances as well.

“Thankfully, they’ve knuckled down now and they are contributing in a real positive way.”