Celtic manager Gordon Strachan has done his homework ahead of tomorrow's SPL clash with Aberdeen at Celtic Park. The boss travelled to Rugby Park on Wednesday to watch the Co-op Insurance cup tie between the Don's and Kilmarnock and he came away impressed by the football played by both teams.
Killie won 4-2 and now face Celtic in the next round of the cup but it's Jimmy Calderwood's side who are the immediate threat to Celtic's ambitions and it would be fair to say that the boss was more impressed with the Aberdeen front line rather than their defence "Jimmy knows the faults of his team but what I can tell you about their strengths is that, going forward, they were good. There was variation in their play, they had good energy and they scored two goals, while one shot came thundering off the crossbar, so he will have been pleased with a lot of things he saw the other night." said Strachan.
"The two teams went at it hammer and tongs but Kilmarnock made fewer mistakes at the back and that was the only thing you would say was against Jimmy's team," he said "You wouldn't say they were defensively-minded. They attacked, they made chances so Jimmy will be pleased with a lot of things but obviously getting beat is a big problem and, as a manager, if you're letting goals in you have to analyse that."
With the Champions League match against Spain's Villarreal coming up on Tuesday it's a busy spell for the Bhoys and the manager is working hard to keep his squad focused on immediate tasks "The priority at the moment is the Aberdeen game and they made it hard for us last year. We beat them at the end of the season 1-0 and got beat by them in the cup so we know how hard it can be here, but we think we're playing well, we've got a lot of variation in attack so we hope we can give them problems."
The Celtic boss was a happy man as he watched his squad seamlessly rotate over the past two games while winning both with some style. Giorgos Samaras was a big common denominator in the victories but it's obvious that winning with a wee bit of panache while changing key personnel is a source of pride for Strachan "I was delighted with the players in midweek," he said.
"Playing against a lower league side - and they're the top of that league - then that's probably our best performance against a lower league side since I've been here, and it was just unfortunate for Livingston that they got us on a real good night. This has been a good spell. At the time, as a manager, you can look and say we're winning, and that's satisfying but the way we're playing is immensely satisfying. I think everybody is enjoying it at the moment."
On a final note it was revealed at today's press conference that Gordon's son has become a sport's journalist and he now has his own blog on the BBC Sports website. When not beavering over a hot keyboard, Gavin Strachan, who describes himself as a journeyman footballer, plays with Notts County.
With a nod at the elder Strachan's antipathy towards their profession he was asked if he had any advice for his errant offspring?
"No, I don't talk to him" said the Celtic gaffer .
"Is that since he's become one of us?" asked the reporter.
"Yes" said Gordon
Gavin's blog appears on the BBC Sport website: Click here