Anthony Ralston previewed Sunday’s Scottish Cup encounter with Raith Rovers at Celtic Park this afternoon at the Celtic media conference. Celtic face John McGlynn’s side once again in cup duty this season at home, having previously beaten the Kirkcaldy side 3-0 en route to winning our first trophy of the season in the shape of the League Cup.
Back in October, goals from Liel Abada, Jota and David Turnbull was enough to overcome the Championship side, who were not short of endeavour on the night. With one trophy already bagged so far this year and another three to play for, including a European one, Ralston insists that the Hoops treat every game the exact same. And Ralston reckons that Celtic will be ready for the Raith challenge on Sunday.
“We take every game the same. We’re going into this game fully focussed, fully prepared. And we’re expecting to be faced with challenges that we face in other games as well. But we’ll be ready to take them on, head on. We’re all going to be ready for the game and taking it as serious as any other game and be ready to go.
“You know they’ll be a physical team. We’ll need to deal with that aspect of things. We’ll need to be concentrated at all times and also play our football. And that’s the thing with playing any team; is that we play our style of football no matter what team it is, and focus on ourselves. We’ll be confident against any team that that will be enough to get the job done.”
Regarding his own role within the squad of late he commented:
“Yeah, you know we have a heavy schedule. There’s a lot of games in our schedule that we play. Lot’s of different competitions. So it’s good to have squad rotation and have quality that you know can come in and out. Also, it’s good to have competition in all aspects and all positions. It keeps us all pushing healthily in the right direction. And that’s been a feature since we came back after the break for everyone.“
It’s always good to hear that level headed attitude from your players. Tony broke into the side this year and hasn’t looked back since, rarely putting a foot wrong in the process. With Josip Juranovic missing through illness again, Ralston can remind everyone of his own qualities and try and break into the international set-up again for the upcoming play-offs with Scotland.
His perspective on his own position within the Celtic squad and the game in general is thoroughly refreshing. He sound like a man that is grateful to be involved with this footballing team and wider Celtic community in general. The commitment shown from him has been unwavering this year and is undoubtedly the most improved player at Celtic Park.
Hopefully the right back helps Celtic to another victory in the Scottish Cup as we look to go on and lift the famous trophy again this season amongst other silverware. His ability to lead will be crucial if indeed as expected Ange makes changes and rotates the team for this weekend.
Watch Anthony Ralston’s full media conference below…
Paul Gillespie
