I'd love to stun Celts again, says Wyness

Nov 19 2008 by Paul Behan, Paisley Daily Express

ST MIRREN striker Dennis Wyness is hoping he can kick-start his Love Street career this weekend by becoming a giant-killer against Celtic once again.

The 31-year-old hitman starred in the Inverness Caley team that posted a famous 3-1 Scottish Cup third round victory over the Hoops at Parkhead back in 2000.

And ‘Dennis the Menace’ followed that up with the only goal of the game during his side’s equally impressive 1-0 Scottish Cup fifth round victory against Celtic three years later.

Now Wyness – who has yet to score for Saints since joining the club during the summer – is convinced his Buddies can shock the SPL leaders on Saturday.

He said: “I enjoyed both those wins over Celtic when I was with Inverness as they were totally unexpected.

“At the time of the win back in 2000, Inverness were a First Division club and we’d not long been formed but we managed to go to Parkhead and win 3-1. Nobody expected it.

“Then, in the 2003 cup game, Celtic had just beaten Liverpool in Europe and they came up to play us in Inverness but we won 1-0 that night and I managed to score the winner.

“It shows that smaller clubs can get results against the Old Firm.”

Wyness knows, however, that every one of Gus MacPherson’s players will have to be at their best to stop Gordon Strachan’s side from posting their 11th straight league win.

He said: “We’ll need to be at our best when we play them on Saturday if we want to take anything but, hopefully, we can do well.

“By all accounts, Hamilton Accies were unlucky not to get a result against Celtic last Sunday and we aim to do even better.”

Wyness is also keen to make it a miserable day for Celtic midfield ace Barry Robson.

They were team-mates for three years when they plied their trade at Inverness Caley Thistle before Robson moved to Parkhead in January and Wyness headed south to join the Buddies in the summer.

Wyness said: “Barry is a good friend and I still keep in touch with him. I think he’s done great since he went to Celtic in January.

“He’s a major reason why Celtic won the league last season. He came into the team and did really well and that’s because he’s a quality player.

“Barry started this season really well too and, when you’re up against Celtic, you know you’re in for a very difficult game because you’re playing the champions and a team that is playing in the Champions League.

“Apart from our game with Hearts recently, I think we’ve played some decent stuff at home but we’ve not had the results we deserved.”