Post by Taxigirl on Feb 26, 2004 11:22:19 GMT
Uefa Cup third round, first leg
Thursday 26 February
Kick-off: 1945 GMT
Celtic's Didier Agathe and Chris Sutton have shrugged off injuries and should be ready to face Teplice.
But the Uefa Cup third round signals the start of Neil Lennon's European suspension, while Shaun Maloney is now out for nine months.
Fellow striker John Hartson has returned to training but is an unlikely starter without match fitness.
The visitors from the Czech Republic have lost five players and signed four others since the previous round.
Teplice coach Frantizek Straka has arrived in Glasgow believing that they can do to Celtic what they did to Kaiserslautern and Feyenoord.
But he admits that the loss of first-team players since the Uefa Cup second round will hamper their chances.
"We will go into the game with the same tactics as we had against Feyenoord and Kaiserslautern," said Straka, who expects much defending at Celtic Park.
"It will be a very hard game, but we will have to look for a breakaway."
Straka is an admirer of Celtic and the way they played in reaching last season's final, as well as performing well in this season's Champions League group stage.
"They are a great, great team, with Larsson, Hartson, Sutton, Petrov and Thompson," he said.
"In the games against Munich, in the final against Porto and against Lyon, they were a bit unlucky.
"But, if we score in Glasgow, everything is possible and, remember, we beat Feyenoord in Holland 2-0.
"We have four new players and it takes a bit of time for new players to bed in, so we have to use our heads."
Straka took heart from the way Dundee United gave Celtic a scare this month by taking the lead before going down 2-1.
"If we play like Dundee United did for 70 minutes, we have a chance," he said.
Celtic wing-back Didier Agathe has recovered from a knee injury, while striker Sutton looks set to play despite a niggling groin strain.
Straka had been quoted earlier as suggesting that goalkeeper Rab Douglas was the weak link in the Celtic side.
Celtic manager Martin O'Neill said: "It is not in the best of taste, but these type of comments just stir us up more than anything else."
But O'Neill has warned against expectations of another Uefa Cup final appearance.
"I'm going to put a dampener on that because another Seville is a million miles away," he said.
O'Neill believes many of the teams in the Uefa Cup this season would have been more than capable of holding their own in the Champions League.
"Last season's run definitely gave us a boost of confidence, but the final is a long way away and even harder to reach," he added.
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Celtic (from): Douglas, McNamara, Kennedy, Valgaeren, Varga, Agathe, Thompson, Petrov, Lambert, Pearson, Larsson, Sutton, Marshall, Beattie, Balde, Sylla, Hartson. Laursen, Smith, Wallace.