Post by Taxigirl on Jan 14, 2006 10:20:08 GMT
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KO - 15:00 UK - Celtic Park
Gordon Strachan believes Celtic have now recovered from their surprise cup exit but insists last week's defeat has not made it any more important to win the Bank of Scotland Premier League.
Celtic go into the home game with Kilmarnock seven points clear of Hearts and Strachan added: ``I'm over the result now.
``You'll need to ask my family how much I was hurting. They might give you some wise answers.
``We've slowly got ourselves back to the boil after being down at the beginning of the week.
``It's our job to win the title anyway so it doesn't make any difference.
``We had to suffer and we suffered. We have done our penance and we have accepted everything that came along with it.
``We can handle that and are bigger than that but the objective was to win the league anyway.
``Whether we had a bad result or not in the cup that didn't change anything.''
Fifth place Kilmarnock will be looking to exploit the weaknesses clearly illustrated by Clyde last week.
But Strachan hopes his side will adapt to whatever challenge comes their way.
``I've seen them play different styles,'' added the Scot. ``I saw them against Hibs (2-2 draw) and both teams played a 4-4-2 and it was like a game of basketball.
``It was a smashing game of football and it showed Kilmarnock can go for it, just like Hibs.
``Last week they played three at the back so they do change their system now and then and we have to be ready for that.
``But we have been working on how to play when teams change systems.''
Kilmarnock manager Jim Jefferies believes it is far too early to judge Roy Keane despite a disastrous Celtic debut.
The Hoops were subjected to a torrid time by Bell's First Division outfit Clyde, who dumped them out of the Tennent's Scottish Cup and ruined Keane's first appearance for his boyhood heroes last Sunday.
But the former Manchester United and Republic of Ireland captain will play at Parkhead for the first time as a Celtic player when Kilmarnock come calling on Saturday.
And Jefferies suspects we will see the real Keane this weekend now that Celtic have had time to recover from their cup shock.
He said: ``We all know Roy Keane is a quality player and there have been issues there about whether he can play in the middle of the park with Neil Lennon.
``But, when you are of that quality, of course you can. He hadn't played for a while and he needs time to settle in.
``People can't just judge him. He has nothing to prove.
``He has a tremendous track record and a tremendous will to win but he needs time to settle in with his new team-mates.
``Last week may not have been the result or performance he wanted but it will have helped him a lot.''
Celtic's biggest concern ahead of the visit of Kilmarnock is likely to be a shaky defence, which was exposed all too easily by a team sitting fourth in the First Division.
Bobo Balde will be missing for weeks as he represents Guinea at the African Nations Cup and Du Wei looked far from convincing in the heart of defence against Clyde.
Killie have already shown they still have the ability to find the back of the net, despite the loss of top goalscorer Kris Boyd to Rangers.
And Jefferies insists there is no reason why their form in front of goal cannot continue against Celtic this weekend.
He said: ``I tell the strikers to get in about defences every week.
``Anyone who has seen Kilmarnock this year knows that we try to play positive football, we create a lot of chances and that's why we're among the highest goalscorers in the league.
``We know Kris got 17 of those goals but others have chipped in the last couple of games.
``We're comfortable with the strikers we've got and they will get the opportunity to make up for the loss of Kris.''
KO - 15:00 UK - Celtic Park
Gordon Strachan believes Celtic have now recovered from their surprise cup exit but insists last week's defeat has not made it any more important to win the Bank of Scotland Premier League.
Celtic go into the home game with Kilmarnock seven points clear of Hearts and Strachan added: ``I'm over the result now.
``You'll need to ask my family how much I was hurting. They might give you some wise answers.
``We've slowly got ourselves back to the boil after being down at the beginning of the week.
``It's our job to win the title anyway so it doesn't make any difference.
``We had to suffer and we suffered. We have done our penance and we have accepted everything that came along with it.
``We can handle that and are bigger than that but the objective was to win the league anyway.
``Whether we had a bad result or not in the cup that didn't change anything.''
Fifth place Kilmarnock will be looking to exploit the weaknesses clearly illustrated by Clyde last week.
But Strachan hopes his side will adapt to whatever challenge comes their way.
``I've seen them play different styles,'' added the Scot. ``I saw them against Hibs (2-2 draw) and both teams played a 4-4-2 and it was like a game of basketball.
``It was a smashing game of football and it showed Kilmarnock can go for it, just like Hibs.
``Last week they played three at the back so they do change their system now and then and we have to be ready for that.
``But we have been working on how to play when teams change systems.''
Kilmarnock manager Jim Jefferies believes it is far too early to judge Roy Keane despite a disastrous Celtic debut.
The Hoops were subjected to a torrid time by Bell's First Division outfit Clyde, who dumped them out of the Tennent's Scottish Cup and ruined Keane's first appearance for his boyhood heroes last Sunday.
But the former Manchester United and Republic of Ireland captain will play at Parkhead for the first time as a Celtic player when Kilmarnock come calling on Saturday.
And Jefferies suspects we will see the real Keane this weekend now that Celtic have had time to recover from their cup shock.
He said: ``We all know Roy Keane is a quality player and there have been issues there about whether he can play in the middle of the park with Neil Lennon.
``But, when you are of that quality, of course you can. He hadn't played for a while and he needs time to settle in.
``People can't just judge him. He has nothing to prove.
``He has a tremendous track record and a tremendous will to win but he needs time to settle in with his new team-mates.
``Last week may not have been the result or performance he wanted but it will have helped him a lot.''
Celtic's biggest concern ahead of the visit of Kilmarnock is likely to be a shaky defence, which was exposed all too easily by a team sitting fourth in the First Division.
Bobo Balde will be missing for weeks as he represents Guinea at the African Nations Cup and Du Wei looked far from convincing in the heart of defence against Clyde.
Killie have already shown they still have the ability to find the back of the net, despite the loss of top goalscorer Kris Boyd to Rangers.
And Jefferies insists there is no reason why their form in front of goal cannot continue against Celtic this weekend.
He said: ``I tell the strikers to get in about defences every week.
``Anyone who has seen Kilmarnock this year knows that we try to play positive football, we create a lot of chances and that's why we're among the highest goalscorers in the league.
``We know Kris got 17 of those goals but others have chipped in the last couple of games.
``We're comfortable with the strikers we've got and they will get the opportunity to make up for the loss of Kris.''