Strachan won't put players on spot

The Glasgow giants have never faced each other in a penalty shootout in a major cup final, although they have had recent experiences in winning games from the spot.Rangers beat Dundee United on penalties in last season's Co-operative Insurance final, while Strachan's men overcame the Tannadice side in the same manner in this season's semi-final.After the game ended 0-0 after extra-time, the whole Celtic side, including goalkeeper Artur Boruc, were required to take the walk from the halfway line.And apart from Glenn Loovens, they all scored, with Scott McDonald netting twice in an epic 11-10 win.Strachan is bracing himself for a repeat on Sunday but refused to place too much emphasis on the practising of spot-kicks ahead of the game."The teams are well-matched at the moment; the league table tells you that," he said."So penalties could happen."But we didn't practise the last time we ended up taking penalties."I don't think you can reconstruct what you actually go through when you're taking a penalty."Strachan will have spent much of this week trying to find the solution to the scoring problems besetting off-form strikers Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Georgios Samaras, who have failed to find the net in the last 25 games between them.The Celtic boss, however, insists the current striking problem is just one part of the ongoing maintenance of his side.He said: "There is always a section of your team that is getting looked at closely."At the moment, it's our strikers."It was the goalie for a while and he dealt with it."It was the back four for a while and they dealt with that."Midfield players were not scoring; they dealt with it by scoring."So we try our best not to put the strikers in the doldrums."The one thing that can help a striker is that the team is still at the top of the league."Strachan insist he will not read too much in to tomorrow's result, should Celtic emerge from Hampden with the trophy.Asked if it would have any impact on the title race, which his side lead by three points, Strachan quipped: "If we win we'll say yes - if we get beat we'll say no."I think the team that wins it will feel better about themselves for at least a week, until you play the next league game."And you saw in the last round of league games that a result comes from nowhere and it all changes."Both managers will be desperate to win, but there is unlikely to be an outbreak of the kind of bitterness that often exists between the two sets of fans.Strachan said: "It is exciting and I am up against someone I admire and respect. I think you can tell that from the last Old Firm game because we managed a conversation during the game."I don't think it was the heat of battle, not during that fixture, that's for sure. It wasn't even lukewarm, the heat of battle."So we had the chance to chat a wee bit. There was nothing else going on, we felt we might as well."Strachan's relationship with Smith began when they were players at Dundee United and Dundee, respectively."We used to meet each other in certain establishments in Dundee," said Strachan."I would not say we were huge friends. I don't think (manager) Jim McLean would allow United players to be pally with Dundee players. He kind of kept everyone apart."

Source: Team_Talk