Liam Scales insists Celtic must be on red alert in Dortmund.
And the defender has backed new sidekick Auston Trusty to shine as he believes in a famous Champions League beating of Borussia. Brendan Rodgers’ team head to Germany brimming with confidence ahead of their showdown in the 81,000-capacity Signal Iduna Park. However, there is also caution as they aim to avoid a repeat of last term’s damaging red-card setbacks.
In three group-stage matches on the road last term, Celtic had a trio of dismissals. Gustaf Lagerbielke and Odin Thiago Holm were ordered-off during a loss to Feyenoord, while Daizen Maeda harshly saw red to spark a hammering from Atletico Madrid. Scales knows the importance of avoiding such troubling scenarios in Dortmund and said: “He [Rodgers] would have spoken about it before the first game against Bratislava because it killed two fixtures for us, getting men sent off.
“Obviously, they were both difficult fixtures last season, but it is important. You’ve seen the ref as well against Bratislava, in every Champions League game.
“You can’t really make a foul without picking up a yellow card, so we just need to be careful, but still be intense in our defending. It’s just something we need to look out for. It’s more defensively being solid, keeping 11 men on the pitch and not conceding easy goals.
“It’s obviously going to be really difficult and we’ll do very well to get a result, but we believe we can. We also need to go there with a bit of confidence that, if we play our game, we can go and win.”
Scales is ready to go and could be partnered by Trusty. Cameron Carter-Vickers missed the weekend rout of St Johnstone with a toe issue and remains a big doubt for Dortmund.
Trusty, who arrived for £6million, partnered Scales strongly in Perth and the Irishman has backed him again if called upon. He said: “Austin was brilliant. Won everything. Obviously, two left footers, he got the short straw playing on the right-hand side! He didn’t look out of place. He didn’t look uncomfortable and that’s brilliant.
“It’s just how we lined up during the week and the shape, the manager’s choice. He was brilliant, so solid, won everything in the air. He was really, really good.
“He’s a top player and I think, whoever it is, we’re ready and we’ve had a chance to play with each other now. I’ve no preference, so it’s just so many good players in each position that we can deal with injuries here and there.
“Cam’s obviously a massive player for us, but I keep saying that the strength in depth is massive. The competition for places, no-one’s place really is secure in the team at the moment because of how good the next player is to come in. Even when we rotate, I don’t think it weakens us. It’s just a really good place to be.”
The challenge in Dortmund will be significantly tougher to Perth, but asked if he believed Celtic could go there and win, Scales said: “Yeah, we just need to go and play the way we’ve been playing and see where that takes us.
“Obviously they’ve got a top, top side and it’s an away fixture in the Champions League, we know it’s going to be difficult. If we play the way we’ve been playing in the league, it gives us our best chance of getting a result there and that’s what we plan to do.”