Houston relishing Hoops visit

02 November 2012 17:11
Dundee United manager Peter Houston believes Celtic are the ideal opponents for his side following their midweek Scottish League Cup exit. The Taysiders host Neil Lennon's side on Sunday looking to get over their quarter-final defeat by Hearts on a penalty shoot-out. United are now turning their attentions back to SPL business with Houston hoping the visit of the Glasgow giants can bring out the best in his own side in their efforts to climb the table. Houston said: "These are always good games to be involved in. "In many ways, it's probably the right kind of fixture for us in the wake of our cup defeat to Hearts. "It's not as though we're coming up against a so-called smaller club when we're expected to win being at Tannadice. "We know it will be very difficult against a really good Celtic side but we've got to give it a go. "I was more disappointed with the manner in which we lost to Hearts by not playing well like we know we can. "But the players won't need motivation come Sunday as there will be a big crowd and a good atmosphere to get them going." United have picked up in the league recently by drawing with on-form Aberdeen and winning away to St Mirren after previously going four games without a goal. Houston hopes they can rediscover that sort of form as they aim to prove Wednesday's cup exit was a blip. He said: "We've definitely picked up of late by going back to basics. "Aberdeen have been on form in the league recently and we drew with them while we worked very hard to overcome St Mirren. "The league is our bread and butter so we want to pick up more points although Celtic are a team who're getting better and have quality everywhere."

Source: team_talk