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Motherwell picked up a point on his final stop at Celtic Park and conceded a “kick in the gut” in the winner’s last gasp at Fir Park in September, so there is confidence heading into Glasgow this afternoon.
That’s the view of manager Stuart Kettlewell, who hopes he can avoid a poor form that has seen them pick up just two draws in their last nine Premiership games.
Kettlewell knows it won’t be easy as they head to the cauldron at Celtic Park, but he says they’ll have to do it with confidence.
“They replaced coaches between the two games, one that was a point at Celtic Park and the other that was probably just here, even if it wasn’t the last kick of the ball,” he said.
“But we’re very confident in it and we have to do it. That’s what I do as a coach, I know that’s the case with the coaching staff, but the players have to know that they can be very competitive in this. match, as they showed in the two chances we had against such an intelligent team, with the most productive: elegant players, foreign players.
“I guess Celtic will say they have their own challenges, with the number of players they have, and some of those guys will come back a little bit later and so on.
“But we have to build on what we think is right for us and what we think is the most productive game plan.
“I think we have something that shows that we were competitive and very smart in the two games against them, and we have to see if we can emulate that. “
Kettlewell added: “To play Celtic, try to do well and try to make it difficult for them, and try to get a result, I think you have to work in a safe way. “
“That’s all we’ve been doing this week. How do we set up, what steps do we take? What steps do we take to make sure we’re prepared and in position for what Celtic are going to do?
“In that last game we were playing against, in my opinion, the most productive team in the country, so it’s a kick in the gut, but it comes from an organization where there are serious investments, foreign players and a lot of people. ” covered.
“Going to Celtic Park, everyone will recognise that it’s potentially the toughest game you’re going to face.
“But I look at it from a slightly different angle: it’s the one that allows you to show what you’re made of, what your character is, and whether you can be receptive to a game plan and stick to a task that’s been assigned to you. in front of you.
“I think we’ve learned a lot from our players over the course of two games against Celtic, and I’ll know more at 3pm. m. this weekend. “
Kettlewell says he has worked hard to prevent Motherwell’s fall down the Premiership table, but says it can depend only on what individual players do.
“We have a lot of evidence that the way we have worked over the last 10 months can be a success and win games in this league,” he said.
“Sometimes what you need to do is focus on making bigger decisions in games and make sure we don’t see the nature of the goals we concede against Hearts and some goals against Aberdeen.
“These are movements on the ground, they have nothing to do with their system, or how they paint the week.
“What we want to do is make sure we step up when we need to. “
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