Source: FOOTYMAD
Two Sides Hurting From Thursday Meet Today
European adventures over for both sides, Motherwell welcome Celtic to Fir Park. Motherwell defender Stephen Craigan insists their Europa League exit, following a 3-1 aggregate defeat to Odense, means they can now finally focus their full attention on the SPL. The Steelmen played six games in Europe before failing to secure a place in the group stages, despite being the better side both home and away against Odense, and they are now seeking to add to the win they claimed against Kilmarnock last week.Echoing manager Craig (Bruiser) Brown's comments from Thursday night, Craigan said: "Our SPL season starts on Sunday. The European campaign wasn't a hindrance but either way we wanted it sorted out, whether we were getting through or not. We can now solely focus on the SPL. It is disappointing but some of the young guys will have learned some things and they should take a lot from the six games. If they have any appetite about them, any will to progress and move on, hopefully this has whetted that appetite for them."Celtic manager Neil Lennon has left his players in no doubt that they must battle hard if they are to lift the SPL trophy in May 2011. Lennon considers his side were too soft for the fight in Europe this season and is looking for the right response from his players in domestic competition. The Celtic players are suffering from"bruised egos" after heading to Holland with a 2-0 lead only to return with a 4-2 aggregate score against them. He wants his side to get straight back in the ring and throwing punches (metaphorically speaking) at Fir Park. Lennon said: "We've still got three trophies to challenge and compete for. The priority has always been the league. We have to make a real challenge for the league now. The defeat on Thursday night we can use as an incentive and a reminder, too, if at any point the players think they're better than they are. It starts on Sunday for us. We'll make the players aware of what's required. We'll go to Motherwell and take it from there. I still trust the players. The domestic performances have been pretty good, we've had setbacks before and they've responded in the right way so I'm looking for a similar response." Lennon is keeping his own counsel on the abilities of his players after the disappointment of being knocked out of the Europa Cup. Last time Celtic were hit this hard was when they were beaten by Ross County at the semi-final stage of the Scottish Cup. After that game Lennon was openly critical of his players in public, but is staying calmer this time. He went on: "I won't make a kneejerk reaction. I did after Ross County because it was endemic of the season that had gone on before. This is a new team. I can't have too many opinions on the players yet. I've got a decent squad that can be in contention domestically. An overall collection of things went wrong against Utrecht. It's the manner we're conceding, it's poor, and the reaction to letting them in was poor. The overall performance was far from what I was looking for. It probably hurt more than Ross County because it's more my team now. It's players I've brought in so it does hurt more." Editor Ger Harley (ger@scottishfitba net)Admin Team (admin@scottishfitba net)This is Scottish-Fitba Net
