Manager focused on facing saints

Mark Henderson

CELTIC enjoyed a 5-2 victory over St Johnstone when the sides met earlier this season, but Tony Mowbray has put all thoughts of that game firmly to one side.

The Hoops boss knows that his side face a tough test at McDiarmid Park this Sunday, but it’s one that he and his players are looking forward to.

After two consecutive SPL draws, the manager is looking for a win in Perth, following on from his side’s 1-0 midweek Scottish Cup victory over Morton, but he’s aware that Derek McInnes’ St Johnstone side will also be aiming for a victory on their home ground
“St Johnstone have impressed me,” the Celtic boss said. “They have a bright young manager and even though we ended up scoring a few goals earlier in the season it was an entertaining football match.

“They’ve done well since then and picked up some points along the way, so we’re expecting a very tough game. But we go there, as always, hoping to put on a good performance and to get a good result.”

The manager also revealed that he has a growing injury list to contend with for the trip to Perth. Ki Sung Yueng, Stephen McManus, Scott McDonald, Danny Fox, Mark Wilson, Paul Caddis, Scott Brown, Shaun Maloney, Lee Naylor have all been ruled out, while Landry NGuemo remains on African Cup of Nations duty with Cameroon.

“It does become more difficult when you look through our injury list and the quality of footballers that will not be available to us,” he said. “But I hope to go there, try and be competitive and get a result.”

Meanwhile, new Bhoys Thomas Rogne and Jos Hooiveld both played 45 minutes of the reserves' 2-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers on Thursday. And their manager was delighted to see the pair continue their progress towards full fitness.

“They have done very little in six weeks as their seasons finished in mid-November,” Tony Mowbray said. “So they need to train and play bounce games like yesterday and when they’re up to speed and ready to go, they will be included.”