The Price Tag Means Nothing

20 December 2010 21:08
There is no pressure being felt by Alexei Eremenko ahead of the game against Celtic. Alexei Eremenko insists he feels no extra pressure despite having just had a £1million price placed on his head by his parent club Metalist Kharkiv. The Finnish playmaker has been a huge success while on loan at Rugby Park, helping take them to fifth in the SPL, as well as winning the player of the month award for November. But, with Metalist claiming they have had interest from three English Premier League clubs, Eremenko could be playing his last few games of Scottish football. That would mean a club willing to match the Ukrainian side's valuation of the player, a sum Eremenko claims he is unconcerned about. Eremenko said: "I don't feel extra pressure, not at all. I will just continue doing what I've done for the last three or four months. I'm sure If I do that, everything will be okay. There is nothing I can do about it, that was the deal before I came here. It's up to them to decide so we will see what happens in January. I am just enjoying my time here with the lads and playing some good football. If I go, I go. If I stay, no problem, I will stay here and play here until the end of the season. In the beginning it was a little bit difficult but then the whole team started to play better and my game improved. It's normal that if players are doing well there is always going to be an interest. I have nothing against staying, I would not be angry or disappointed. But, if I go, that's football. For me, I am enjoy playing here, we are in fifth position and everything is going well for us." Eremenko has the chance to test himself again when Kilmarnock travel to Parkhead on Tuesday night but he claims he will treat the game with Neil Lennon's men like any other. He said: "I'm not going to think like that. If you start to think like that, I'm sure the game would be bad. We will just continue playing like we do in every game. We are playing Celtic away from home and we will concentrate on the game but I'm not going to try to do something extra and show that I'm a good player. I'm not going to do that, I'll just keep playing the way I have been." Kilmarnock have not won at Parkhead since a 2-0 victory  back in 1955 but, according to boss Mixu Paatelainen, will head into this game with plenty of confidence. He said: "I don't know about it being our best chance but we will be positive. We go into every match trying to cause problems for the opponents and trying to make sure we nullify their strengths. The same thing applies tomorrow. We do realise Celtic are a quality team. They have stars everywhere in their side, they can score goals and they can defend solidly. But, as long as we have the right mentality, then we have a chance. Going to Celtic Park is never easy. We will see how much confidence we have going there tomorrow night. You must have confidence when you go to Celtic Park and face a tough opponent like Celtic, you must be confident about getting on the ball and making runs and making possibilities on the pitch. As long as we have that mentality, I believe we will be fine." Editor Ger Harley (ger@scottishfitba net)Admin Team (admin@scottishfitba net)This is Scottish-Fitba.Net

Source: FOOTYMAD