It's How You Play; Not How You Think

07 April 2011 07:29
A game of leapfrog has begun between the Old Firm with Celtic overtaking Rangers for the number one spot in the top flight Celtic assistant manager, Johan Mjallby claimed it is far too soon for title race nerves after Celtic reclaimed top spot in the SPL with an impressive 3-1 win over Hibs. The battle for the SPL title now looks set to go right to the wire and Mjallby was quizzed on whether mentality is now more important than ability in the remaining games. He said: "I think it's a bit of both. The ability is always going to be important because of the way we play the game and the way we hope to make sure we pick up the three points. Mentality-wise, I think there are too many games to go before you can start to think about getting nervous about things. Especially now, with so many games coming up, it's just important for us to get as many wins as possible. When it comes to the latter stage of the season, it might come in handy if you are very strong mentally then.''  Asked if the Hoops will need to cope with mind games, Mjallby added: "Not at all. It's more about making sure you have the players for the game-plan and that our players are at their best.  It's always good to be top, that's what we are aiming for. Rangers won yesterday and they put a wee bit of pressure on us to try and get three points. We did that with a good performance. The pressure is always going to be there and there are a lot of important games coming up. We just need to focus on ourselves and make sure we win as many games as possible and get a good run now. When we play them next time, that's the first time we are going to worry about Rangers.''  Hibs manager Colin Calderwood was keen to focus on the positives and was relieved his players at least did not suffer the same kind of 9-0 thrashing handed out to Aberdeen by Celtic. He said: "You can be fearful of what happened to Aberdeen earlier in the season. It could happen to a lot of clubs here but it didn't happen to us and credit to the players for that. In terms of personal development, it will be good for us - but only if we come back better.''

Source: FOOTYMAD