‘When you come out to that noise and support it’s such an incentive for us to do well,’ Greg Taylor…
The last time Greg Taylor played a knockout European fixture after Christmas he was part of the Celtic side so frustratingly defeated by Copenhagen two years ago.
Now however Taylor feels Celtic are in a good place to advance in European competition, and speaking to the Matchday programme via Celticfc.com the Celtic left back, who has been hugely impressive since returning from the winter-break, intends to put the bitter experience of exiting the Europa League to good use and learn from that experience ahead of Celtic’s last 16 Europa Conference League tie with Bodo/Glimt at Celtic Park tomorrow night.
“You have to use these moments to learn from them and come back stronger because that’s not a feeling I want again. With this being a new tournament, we have the opportunity to do something that no one else has done before.
“We want to have a good run and to do that we will need to put in a top performance. When you get to the knockout rounds of Europe then the teams are all of a similar level. Regardless of who you play, it will be really difficult and tonight is no different.”
Taylor also recognises the importance of European football to Celtic and has every intention of reaffirming Celtic’s status as a European side of note, starting with tomorrow’s tie with the Norwegian champions and with a view of going much deeper in the competition.
“This is a huge part of what this football club is known for. It’s a club that for so long has competed in European competitions and it’s now on us to go as far as we possibly can in this current competition. It’s these occasions that everyone at the club and in the squad looks forward to.”
And for Taylor who has claimed the atmosphere at the recent Glasgow Derby was the best he has experienced in his career; he is hoping a similar wall of sound will greet the players against Bodo/Glimt and inspire the Hoops players ahead of a huge European night under the lights at Celtic Park.
“If you look at the recent game at home to (the)Rangers, the atmosphere that night was the best I have ever experienced in my life and that is hopefully the type of atmosphere that we will feel (tomorrow night). When you come out to that noise and support it’s such an incentive for us to do well. It puts you on edge but it’s positive and makes you focus that bit more and drives you forward more than you thought you could.”
There is no doubt the Celtic support will create a fantastic atmosphere for the Celtic players, and an intimidating one for our Norwegian visitors, and with a little luck on the night Celtic can win this first leg, take something to hold onto ahead of the return leg in Norway, and help Greg Taylor exorcise some of those memories of Copenhagen two years ago.
🗣️ “It’s a club that for so long has competed in European competitions and it’s now on us to go as far as we possibly can in this current competition.”#CELBOD programme cover star Greg Taylor previews our #UECL playoff tie 🍀
Get your programme at the game or buy online ⤵️
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) February 16, 2022
Niall J
