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“I don’t think we’ve quite reached the level that we had before Christmas,” Fran Alonso

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Celtic's last visit to Balmoral Stadium, Aberdeen, Scotland on 5 September 2021. Photo Stephen Dobson PSI

Celtic FC Women head north to Aberdeen today to face a Dons side sitting in a more than credible fifth place in the SWPL1, in this their first season in the top flight.

The sides have already met twice this season with Celtic winning both by two clear goals, firstly at the Balmoral Stadium on the opening day of the season, where the Hoops won 4-2 and at the Penny Cars stadium in November where Celtic came from behind to win 3-1.

Both Aberdeen and Celtic will be looking to respond positively this afternoon after hefty defeats in their last outings, with the Hoops going down 3-0 to theRangers at Murray Park, despite performing better than the scoreline suggested, to all but extinguish any lingering hopes they had of putting in a league title challenge this season. Meanwhile the Dons suffered a chastening 10-1 defeat at the hands of Glasgow City, a surprisingly hefty defeat considering prior to that match Aberdeen had won three consecutive league games.

As much as both sides will be looking to get back to winning ways in the League this afternoon, this match is also a dress rehearsal for the Scottish Cup tie between the sides on 3 April.

Aberdeen Women v Celtic Women Scottish Building Society Womens Premier League 05/09/2021.  Tegan Bowie on the wing. Photo Stephen Dobson PSI

Celtic, having already lifted the League Cup with a win over Glasgow City in December to end a decade long wait for silverware will now be looking to add the Scottish Cup and lift a domestic cup double. And the importance of that tie will take on even more significance now it appears a title challenge is over, and even a shot a Champions League football, by finishing in the runners up spot in SWPL1, will be a challenge in itself as the Hoops lie seven points behind second placed theRangers, who have two games in hand on the Hoops, whilst Glasgow City are a further point ahead.

Fran Alonso spoke to Celtic TV this week, and was keen to put theRangers result behind him and look forward to a meeting with an in-form Aberdeen side and a chance to put in the sort of performance the Celtic head-coach admits to being far too rare an occurrence since returning from the winter break

“After a bad result we just want to play the next game to put things right, although it will be a difficult game. They had a heavy defeat, but they won five games in a row and have been very, very impressive. So we know it will be difficult but we are looking forward to playing the game and hopefully get the three points.

“After Christmas we’ve only had two outstanding performances – we’ve played well, but I don’t think we’ve quite reached the level that we had before Christmas. So our aim is to try to be as intense and as good on the ball, especially in the final third.

“I think we are creating many chances, but our conversion rate is far away from how it was, so we are working towards it and hopefully we will pick it up on Sunday, but the most important thing is the three points.”

 

Aberdeen co-manager Gavin Beith also previewed today’s match with Celtic on the official Aberdeen website and admits to taking a lot of confidence from recent results and feels his Dons side go into this fixture better prepared for the challenge of facing a professional side than they did for the previous two meetings between the sides.

Aberdeen Women v Celtic Women Scottish Building Society Womens Premier League 05/09/2021. Sarah Harkes win the ball. Photo Stephen Dobson PSI

“The team’s great recent run of victories has shown that the players have settled to life in SWPL1 and their confidence is much higher going into today’s game than it was the last time we played Celtic.

“Since then, Celtic have won the League Cup and are still in contention in terms of winning the league. They are a top side with international players so they will pose a really tough challenge.

“We’ve got ourselves into a good position in the league table thanks to our good recent run of results, including a win against Hibernian who sit just below Celtic in the table. There is always a gap to bridge when we come up against a professional team but the players have already shown this season that they are able to compete in this type of games.”

You can watch today’s game live on the BBC Sport Scotland website and BBC i-Player, – go to https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/scotland

Aberdeen Women v Celtic Women Scottish Building Society Womens Premier League 05/09/2021. GOAL 0-1 Celtic Womens Charlie Wellings 21 scores a goal 0-1 and celebrates, Photo Stephen Dobson PSI

with the game kicking off at 4pm. And if you happen to be in the vicinity of Balmoral Stadium in Aberdeen you can also pay at the gate this afternoon.

This will be no easy fixture for Fran Alonso’s Celtic side this afternoon, however, the Hoops rarely fail to respond when suffering a negative result. Despite Aberdeen’s recent improved form Celtic will go into this game as strong favourites, and with both games being entertaining encounters earlier in the season, with ten goals scored over the course of the two meetings, this game should be an attacking affair and one where Celtic will be looking to bounce back to winning ways in the North-East.

COYGIG

Niall J

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About Author

As a Bellshill Bhoy I was taken to my first Celtic game in the summer of 1987. It was Billy McNeill’s return to Celtic Park as manager and Celtic lost 5-1 to Arsenal . I thought I was a jinx, I think my Grandfather might have thought the same. It was the finest gift anyone ever gave me when he walked me through Parkhead's gates.

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