'Underdogs bite' - Dunfermline boss Lennon warns Celtic

Neil Lennon has warned former club Celtic that "underdogs bite" as his Dunfermline Athletic side aim to cause a Scottish Cup shock in Saturday's final.

The former Celtic captain and manager says some have pedalled a "disrespectful" narrative in the build-up to this weekend's showpiece occasion at Hampden.

The Championship side have beaten top-flight Hibernian, Aberdeen and Falkirk on their way to the final, which Lennon believes has fuelled an "inner belief".

"It's not a day out for us," the 54-year-old says.

"I've seen a lot of comments this week about Martin [O'Neill] picking up the trophy with Callum McGregor and if he'd have been here earlier in the season, he would have been winning a treble.

"I wouldn't dismiss us. We're the underdogs, but underdogs bite."

Dunfermline go into the final on the back of having their Premiership promotion hopes ended by a play-off semi-final defeat by Partick Thistle last week.

Asked if he was annoyed by those who he feels have written his side off, Lennon added: "Yes. It just adds fuel for me, so it's great. It's disrespectful which, again, I don't mind.

"We will come - I wouldn't say brimming full of confidence - but with an inner belief that we can achieve something here. We're under no illusions as to how difficult that's going to be."

Lennon revealed striker Zak Rudden is set to be available after more than three months out injured and goalkeeper Aston Oxborough will return on loan from Motherwell after being temporarily recalled by his parent club.

The Dunfermline boss also said he finds it "disrespectful" to be described as O'Neill's apprentice but feels it will be a "surreal" experience to come up against his former manager at Celtic in a game of such magnitude.

Lennon is not surprised by what O'Neill has gone on to achieve this season, despite his age, and says he "couldn't have asked for anyone better to learn from".

"It'll still be surreal considering how long I've known him, what he's done for my career and what influence he's had on me," he said.

"I was very, very lucky that I had 10 years of Martin in his pomp. Everyone talks about what he did at Celtic. What he did at Leicester was incredible.

"Obviously getting promotion, and then he had four top-10 finishes in the Premier League and three League Cup finals.

"He was on a fraction of a budget compared to the rest. If that was a modern-day manager now, he'd be going to Bayern Munich or somewhere like that."