Dundee United midfielder Ian Harkes has admitted that Celtic recent 9-0 thrashing of the United squad is still lingering in his mind as Dundee United prepare to face the Hoops in Paradise tomorrow.
The American managed to play just under an hour of the 9-0 thrashing earlier this season. Obviously, Harkes is still affected by the embarrassing result as he is still talking about it months later. Harkes draws attention to the problem of conceding an early goal.
The midfielder, who is of course married to the former Celtic FC Women midfielder Sarah Harkes, believes if United avoid an early setback on Saturday, they will be able to get the crowd on United’s side.
Speaking to The Courier, Harkes said: “It’s obviously going to be an incredibly difficult game. That result is lingering in the back of our heads and we all know it was embarrassing.”
“However, that gives us the fire to make sure nothing like that ever happens again. We are going there knowing Celtic aren’t invincible. They have been on a very good run and are a good team,” Harkes said.“It is up to us to find ways to exploit them. We need to stay smart, keep to our shape and try to stop any early goals and hopefully get the crowd on our side, away from home.”
Celtic netted their first out of nine goals after 15 minutes of game time at Tannadice last August. No doubt if Celtic start off their scoring early in the match tomorrow afternoon, memories of the embarrassing 9-0 thrashing will come flooding back to the Dundee United players and will consequently put them off their game, hopefully allowing the Bhoys to attempt to recreate the outstanding win in Paradise and forever plague the minds of the Dundee United squad.
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