‘No fluke! We’ll treat league leaders Killie with respect,’ Christie

CELTIC will show new league leaders Kilmarnock all the respect that they are due and will then set about trying to get the first win of the year against the Rugby Park side at Celtic Park tomorrow afternoon.

Killie’s recent record of two wins and two draws in the past four games against the Champions is the best in Scottish football against Brendan Rodgers and Steve Clarke is the ONLY manager in the Scottish game to be beating the all conquering Celtic boss in a head to head.

It’s about time that Brendan and his Celtic side got a win against Kilmarnock and by doing so tomorrow they will go to the top of the league, meaning that the Scottish Premiership will have had three different sides at the summit in under a week.

Yesterday the November Premiership Player of the Month Ryan Christie spoke about the challenge from Ayrshire. It’s been a decent season for that part of the country with Our United also on top of the Championship and having a striker who is going to net them a huge financial bonus in the not too distant future.

Celtic scouts have been watching that one very closely indeed.

“We’ll treat Kilmarnock with respect because they’re where they are on merit. This isn’t a fluke,”Christie said.

“They’ve played some good football and they’re always such a hard team to come up against.

“I’m sure that will be the case again this weekend. Kilmarnock have done really well. Their manager’s done a brilliant job, though you saw glimpses of that last season.

“Fair play to them, they’ve been brilliant since the start of the season and we found that out when they beat us last time we met.

“Out of all the teams at the top of the league they are the team with the least pressure on them because, with all due respect, they are not expected to be there.

“It’s probably a nicer feeling to be coming in without that pressure. But we are used to the pressure at Celtic and of wanting to be at the top and win every game.

“That’s why it hurts so much when we don’t win, like against Motherwell on Wednesday.

“We will be ready to deal with that pressure on Saturday. We know how big the game is and we are desperate to win it.

“The incentive is clear enough for us — win and we’ll be in first place. That’s obviously where we want to be.

“A lot has been said about the number of games we’re being asked to play at the moment, but we just need to win as many of those games as possible.

“And hopefully, by the time we get to the winter break, we’ll be top of the league.”

Also on The Celtic Star today…

Jim Craig – Rock bottom after drawing a blank against AC Milan…See HERE.

About Author

The Celtic Star founder and editor, who has edited numerous Celtic books over the past decade or so including several from Lisbon Lions, Willie Wallace, Tommy Gemmell and Jim Craig. Earliest Celtic memories include a win over East Fife at Celtic Park and the 4-1 League Cup loss to Partick Thistle as a 6 year old. Best game? Easy 4-2, 1979 when Ten Men Won the League. Email editor@thecelticstar.co.uk

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