Motherwell (H) Preview

Last updated : 07 August 2004 By Kevin Smith
Celtic v Motherwell
Bank Of Scotland SPL
Sunday 8th August 2004
Celtic Park
Kick Off 2pm, Live on Setanta SPL Live

New Kit: Cheap looking
So the first competitive game of the season is almost upon us. Motherwell are the visitors to Celtic Park, on a day where the league flag will be unfurled.

We've had an up and down pre-season. The absence of Henrik Larsson is certainly weird, but is something we'll have to get used to. A comfortable win at Fulham was followed by two heavy defeats by Liverpool and Chelsea, a tight win over Manchester United and an unlucky loss to Roma. Our last game was on Wednesday night, where we defeated Newcastle 2-1 at Celtic Park.

Nonsense in the newspapers regarding a Celtic crisis has been laughed off. Despite only bringing in one new face, Henri Camara on loan from Wolves, we are still in fine shape. Yes, we could do with a couple more players, and I'm sure Martin O'Neill will add to the squad before the Champions League deadline. For the meantime, we will be looking to easily dispose of Motherwell with our current squad.

John Hartson should partner Chris Sutton up-front and Henri Camara will start on the bench. Despite scoring against Newcastle, he is not fit enough to start Sunday's game.

Aiden McGeady has impressed throughout the close season and has certainly staked a claim to start the game. Here's hoping he can play like he did on Wednesday, when he won the Man of the Match award. Another youngster, Craig Beattie, was the star of the US tour. He will be looking to impress and maybe get his first goal in front of the Celtic Park crowd.

With Rangers playing at Aberdeen tomorrow, it puts pressure on us the following day. If they win, we are behind and will have to secure a victory to keep in line; if they lose then we have the chance to overtake, even at such an early a stage of the season.

Celts will be wearing their new kit for the game - a cheaper looking version of last season's. It seems Umbro are trying to get a final pay-off from the Celtic support before their deal expires next summer, and they are inevitably replaced by a bigger company.

It will be great to be back at Paradise for a competitive game, this pre-season has dragged in. Despite Euro 2004, it has been the most boring in recent years. I'm sure the forthcoming season won't follow suit.

Hail Hail!

Celtic-Mad Prediction: Celtic 3-0 Motherwell