St Mirren won’t be changing their gameplan just because they are going up against Celtic, manager Stephen Robinson has insisted to reporters.
The Paisley side visit Celtic Park in the Scottish Cup tomorrow evening, just a few weeks after losing 4-0 at the same venue.
Despite that, Robinson reckons they won’t be switching up their tactics or approach. Defending strongly is a priority but not at the expense of radically changing their set-up, as other teams often do at Celtic Park.
St Mirren boss unafraid of Celtic
Speaking to The Herald, the Buddies boss said: “I believe we have players who can cause Celtic problems. Every manager knows it is a tough task, especially at Celtic Park. They have a lot of talent in the side, play with incredible energy, but we have matched that before.
“We need to be at the top of our game, every single player needs to play at the top of their game. We have done that before so it is certainly not an impossible task. A difficult one, yes, but one we have belief in. It is not like we haven’t beaten Celtic before.
“The key things that everyone knows when you play against the top sides are you need to be very organised and defend very well. A lot of teams change how they play when they play Celtic and Rangers away but we don’t, we keep it exactly the same so nobody has to do anything new. Nobody has to learn different systems, it is something we are well-versed in and we have to do it as well as we did in the home game (against Celtic).”
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Celtic Park Scottish Cup clash should be entertaining
In fairness to Robinson, he remains the only manager in Scotland to have beaten Celtic this season so his approach is valid. They didn’t beat the Bhoys by sitting back without having a go in the other direction.
Yet, you get the sense in a cup tie that boldness will still suit Ange Postecoglou and his team. Regardless of if a team ‘park the bus’, Celtic usually find a way through but on the odd occasion, a team does manage to frustrate the players to hold on for a draw.
A more combative, competitive game is better for everyone heading to Celtic Park tomorrow, including the team. It’s more entertaining, for a start, but it should also allow the Bhoys to have the room to get at the visitors and show their quality. If the players are on their game, it should be a comfortable progression into the next round.
In other news, Celtic team news: Anthony Ralston returns to contention, squad update vs St Mirren.