Mowbs keen to keep Hinkel at Hoops

16 August 2009 13:14
The Germany international put speculation of a move to Hull behind him to help the Hoops to a comprehensive 3-1 win at Pittodrie. An Aiden McGeady double and a Scott McDonald strike had put the game beyond the dismal Dons by the interval. Although Dons midfielder Sone Aluko pulled a goal back after the break, the second half served mostly as a warm-up for the visit of the Gunners to Celtic Park in the first leg of the Champions League play-off. Mowbray seemed to accept that there could be some credence in reports of Hull's interest. He said: "We are aware of some interest and there has been interest since the day I came here. "I don't think Andreas is in any rush to leave this football club and we are in no rush to move him on. "But as I said before, if we are going to rotate our squad around and improve certain areas, then if the right deal comes along for this club we will assess it and see if it is something that we want to do or not. "No firm contact has been made and so we will wait and see. "But I would suggest that there is a very slim chance that he will be away before Tuesday night. "While young (Paul) Caddis has done well in pre-season games, it is a big game to thrown him into so I would suggest that Andreas will still be here on Tuesday." There were few negatives for Celtic in what was an impressive win. However, defender Glenn Loovens came off with a knee injury just after the break and midfielder Shaun Maloney limped off near the end to leave Celtic playing out stoppage-time with 10 men. Gary Caldwell, who was suspended for the trip to Pittodrie, will be back for the visit of Arsenal but Mowbray hinted that Dutchman Loovens could be a doubt. The Celtic boss said: "Glenn has been carrying a wee knock since the game in Moscow and if we had everyone available he may not have played. "It is on the outside of his knee and it was a bit sore at half-time but we gave him another 10 minutes and I didn't hesitate to make the change by putting Donati back. "We will see how he is on Monday. "Shaun is okay, he had a bit of cramp but he will be okay." Aberdeen boss Mark McGhee's candid, if depressing, programme notes set the tone for his side's first-half performance. McGhee claimed that "the Scottish game is in crisis and anyone who does not accept the realities of present times will be disappointed". Afterwards he expanded on his thoughts by saying: "There is a financial gulf between the teams in Scotland, outwith the Old Firm and maybe Hearts, and teams in the English Championship. "We are competing for players in the First Division and over time that will have an impact on the quality up here. "We will continue, as we have done this summer, to lose the best of our young players, and they are being replaced with boys from, for example, Swindon Town. "You have to work with what you've got but over time the quality will diminish and it's killing us." McGhee was suitably impressed with Celtic to offer them hope against Arsenal on Tuesday. He said: "I've watched a lot of Arsenal over the last five years or so and I think Celtic have as good a chance next week as they would have at any time during those five years. "Arsenal are a terrific footballing team but Celtic, with their movement and play that they had today, are capable of giving them a real game." Meanwhile, Celtic have signed 17-year-old striker Greig Spence from Alloa Athletic for an undisclosed fee. It means a switch from the Second Division club's first-team squad to Celtic's under-19 side. Alloa's website stated: "Although Alloa Athletic didn't want to lose Greig, we did not want to stand in the way of a young player with so much talent. "It will be impossible for the club to go out and sign a replacement for Greig Spence. He is a unique talent."

Source: Team_Talk