McInnes fears Celtic rebound

21 August 2009 15:06
The Hoops were beaten 2-0 by Arsenal in the first leg of their Champions League play-off on Tuesday night and although Tony Mowbray's men went down to a deflected goal by William Gallas and an own goal by Gary Caldwell, there was no hiding the gulf between the two sides.[LNB]However, McInnes said that Celtic's win at Aberdeen in the opening day of the Scottish Premier League campaign last week, is more an indicator of what his side can expect in the east end of Glasgow.[LNB]"You have to put Celtic's game against Arsenal in context," he said.[LNB]"Arsenal are a top, top club and there was no surprise at how quickly they moved the ball about or how quick and athletic they were but Celtic showed for long spells that they could match that.[LNB]"They were always in the game and they were unfortunate with the goals they lost.[LNB]"It was a half-decent performance by Celtic and the defeat will not have dented them in any way.[LNB]"They played Aberdeen in the SPL last week and they were magnificent.[LNB]"So it will be a tough, tough ask for us.[LNB]"You always look for teams strengths and weaknesses and Celtic have a lot more strengths than weaknesses.[LNB]"But we have to to be optimistic and confident."[LNB]Mowbray is likely to shuffle his side around after playing Georgios Samaras in attack with Aiden McGeady supporting but McInnes is more concerned about how his players shape up.[LNB]"I've no idea if Celtic will change their team or not," the former Rangers and West Brom player said.[LNB]"Celtic have a good squad and no matter who plays, they will be quality.[LNB]"I'll be looking for my players to compete, to go there with confidence and belief.[LNB]"We have to be difficult to play against.[LNB]"It is a test for us but we look forward to it."[LNB]Meanwhile, the Perth club revealed the cost of achieving promotion to the SPL.[LNB]Club accounts for the year to the end of May 2009 will show a pre-tax loss of £225,152 compared with a profit of over £296,000 the year before.[LNB]However, chairman Geoff Brown has no qualms about the price paid to return to the SPL after an absence of seven years and indeed, the Saints board have shown their intent by allowing McInnes sufficient funds to add six new faces to his squad.[LNB]"We pushed the boat out to try and win promotion," Brown told the club's official website.[LNB]"We had the largest squad in the division and we believed we had the manager and players to achieve our goal.[LNB]"Having been successful, there is little point being in the SPL if we are not going to compete."[LNB][LNB]

Source: Team_Talk