Wolves midfielder Joe Hodge sounds like he’s expecting a large Celtic support in Dublin later this month.
The Hoops are due to face Wolves at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday 29 July in what will be our penultimate fixture before the start of the competitive action.
The game was only announced last week, and there is a short window for tickets to be sold at the 50,000 arena.
Former Manchester City youngster Hodge is also a Republic of Ireland youth international, and he seems to be well aware of Celtic‘s reputation in the nation.
“I’m buzzing for it,” he told the official Wolves website. “I can’t wait, to be honest. Celtic are a top side – everyone knows that – they are a huge football club and hopefully it should make for a good game in a class stadium.
“I’ve been a couple of times to the Aviva before, I’ve never played there though, but I’ve watched a fair few games, so hopefully if I get a game there at the end of this month it will be first of many I get there.
“I want to play there for Ireland and hopefully I’ll be playing there in the Aviva in a green jersey this season. That’s the aim for me.
“But getting the chance to go there with Wolves and play in front of a home crowd – although I know a lot of them will be supporting Celtic – will be special and hopefully the first of many.”
So plenty of complimentary chat from Hodge. He ticked most of the boxes we’d look for in terms of praise.
He is right in thinking that much of the stadium will be supporting Celtic. While Wolves are generally quite liked in Dublin, and have had plenty of Irish players in the past, Celtic will be the main story for most.
A look at the latest Ticketmaster sales for the match shows an encouraging picture. The majority of the South Stand has sold out, while sales are also good in the East Stand.
It doesn’t seem like the Aviva will be sold-out for the match. But if there’s a crowd of 30,000 or above then that can probably be viewed as a success.
That total looks more than achievable 11 days out from the fixture.
In other news, the Celtic first-team got to sample some pretty special surroundings at training on Tuesday
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