St Mirren: We must be ready for Celtic clash

Nov 27 2009 by Andrew Newport, Paisley Daily Express

SAINTS players will be warned to make sure they are ready right from the first whistle tomorrow when they travel to Parkhead to take on Celtic.

Gus MacPherson’s men conceded a goal after just 17 seconds when they faced Rangers at Ibrox earlier this month.

And the Buddies gaffer has told his team they must keep things tight during the opening stages of tomorrow’s game against the Hoops.

He said: “Getting off to a good start seems to be the hard part for us.

“You have to get off to a good start in any game, not just against the Old Firm, in order to give yourself a platform to go and play.

“We got off to a horrendous start at Ibrox a couple of weeks ago.

“But then we went on to play some decent stuff and created one or two decent chances.

“We are capable of doing that at Parkhead as well.

“We will go there and try to pass the ball and try to cause them problems.”

Saints skipper John Potter will return to the squad for the Celtic match after he missed out on the 1-1 draw with Hibernian in Paisley last Saturday because of a facial injury.

MacPherson said: “John will be back in the squad.

“And, apart from that, the squad is the same as last week.

“John has trained all week but we will wait to see how everyone is before making a decision on who starts.”

Celtic have been struggling of late and have won just two games from their last 10 outings in all competitions.

They were handed a defeat by Dundee United in the SPL last Sunday and manager Tony Mowbray is already under pressure from the demanding Celtic faithful.

However, MacPherson remains wary of the threat posed by the Hoops.

He said: “Despite what’s happened, Celtic are still dangerous.

“They still have good attacking options like Aiden McGeady, Paddy McCourt and Niall McGinn, and that’s just their wide players.

“Then you’ve still got their strikers to consider.

“We will have to defend properly but, when we have the ball, we have to be positive.”