Aberdeen manager, Jim Goodwin, has revealed he is extremely wary of the threat Celtic pose against the Dons, but he remains confident that they could snatch all three points from Celtic’s grasp.
Goodwin went on to identify how excellent St Mirren’s game plan was in their 2-1 victory over Celtic and hopes to draw inspiration from his former club’s success against Celtic.
Celtic and Aberdeen are set to resume the season on Saturday, following the short break due to the world cup. Celtic will face the Dons on their home turf at Pittodrie, likely in the snow as Aberdeen has been subject to snow storms in the past week. The clash is highly anticipated as Celtic currently sits first in the League, with Aberdeen lagging behind in 3rd place.
While the Aberdeen boss remains confident with his side, he concedes that Celtic pose a great threat to any team, and he will be extremely wary when coming face to face with Ange Postecoglou’s side.
As reported by Aberdeen Live, the Aberdeen gaffer made his thoughts known…
“The first two fixtures are as difficult as they can get because they are the top two teams in the country at the moment. Celtic have only had one defeat all season up until now against St Mirren away from home, so we’ve got to take a little bit of encouragement from that result.”
“I thought St Mirren’s game plan on the day was excellent, I thought they frustrated Celtic for large periods and deservedly won the game. What that proves is that they can be beaten if you get a number of things right on the day.
“We respect them as an opposition, they’re a very good side, and they’ve scored in excess of 50 goals this season already. But our home form has been excellent and won six out of seven league games at Pittodrie. We’ve scored the same amount of goals, I think, as Celtic and Rangers have done at home as well. Our defensive record which is something people have been quick to point the finger at us, and deservedly so because our away record defensively has been poor, but here at home, we’ve only conceded six goals.”
“It’s only Celtic and Rangers who’ve got a slightly better goal difference than us at home, so we’ve got to take all of the positives and the confidence from those things, albeit it we know how difficult it’s going to be. Recent results in maybe the last decade or so haven’t made for great reading from an Aberdeen perspective, and that’s something me and this new group of players want to put right.”
“I wouldn’t be as bold to suggest there’s ever a good time to get one of the top teams in the country. I’m pretty sure some of the Celtic players will be in a similar frame of mind to my guys, where they’ve missed playing competitive football. I’m pretty sure they’ll be just as excited as what we are. Regardless of the players they’ve had involved in the World Cup, they’ve got a huge squad of real top quality and international players.”
“We just have to try and focus on what we’re capable of doing. We’ve been in a great run of form, and we’ve got some young, talented players in our team that are capable of causing Celtic some problems as well.”
