Source: Team_Talk
Mowbray: Fortune to favour Bhoys
Fortune was criticised for his lack of goals during pre-season and Celtic's Champions League campaign.[LNB]But Mowbray believes the former Nancy striker's link-up play has been a costly absence during his two-month lay-off with a knee injury.[LNB]Fortune came off the bench during Celtic's 3-0 victory over Kilmarnock on Saturday and is pushing for an appearance in Thursday's crucial Europa League contest against Hamburg in Germany.[LNB]Celtic had won just once in six games before the Killie victory and their Europa League campaign has come unstuck through a series of missed chances.[LNB]Fortune did net two goals against St Johnstone before suffering the knee problem during defeat against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.[LNB]But it his all-round play in setting others up that Mowbray feels is his key contribution to the team.[LNB]"It's easy to look back and say that we've missed Marc but you always miss good players when they are out," Mowbray told the Celtic View.[LNB]"He adds something different to the team. When he was fit and available at the start of the season, the team was generally scoring goals.[LNB]"He gives us a different dimension to the qualities of Scott McDonald and Georgios Samaras.[LNB]"Those two players have worked very hard for us, but Marc's work with his back to goal can give us a platform.[LNB]"We will look to utilise him and the other strikers as the season goes on. They all have a part to play, but I was delighted with Marc's return."[LNB]Fortune's ability to hold the ball up could be utilised by Mowbray as he seeks to settle into the game against Hamburg, who won 1-0 at Parkhead two weeks ago.[LNB]Mowbray looks set to start with one up front despite Celtic sitting bottom of the group with just one point from three games.[LNB]"You can never know how a game pans out, but we need to make sure we stay in the football match," he said.[LNB]"Hamburg have talented players, but we could also see from the first game that we can compete with them.[LNB]"We will give them respect, but we know we have to score a goal over there.[LNB]"We'll set the team up to stay in the game but we'll also be pushing the longer the game goes on and hopefully we get the rewards out of it."[LNB][LNB]
