Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell has been preparing his side to endure long spells without the ball when they face Celtic on Sunday.
But he is also devising ways to make the most of their possession against the champions at Fir Park.
Kettlewell has a strong record against Celtic. His Ross County side ended their 35-match winning run in the domestic cups in 2020, and Motherwell have twice drawn at Parkhead since he joined the Lanarkshire club. The other two meetings, at Fir Park, were both won deep in stoppage time by the visitors.
“I look at the four games in my time and it’s been incredibly competitive, it has been close, we’ve let Celtic know that they’re in a game of football,” he said.
“That doesn’t guarantee that’s what it is going to be this week, but I just think that there has to be a balance in what you do.
“You have to carry a threat, there’s no doubt about that, we all speak about it at times being starved with the ball.
“I think it was Sean Dyche years ago about how you actually prepare for one of these games and he spoke an awful lot about playing against Man City and he spoke about why would you train with the ball for 80 per cent of your session?
“At times you have to prepare without it because it makes it realistic. As much as we would like that number to be closer, the first place you have to start is that defensive stability, which I think that we’ve had a lot of against Celtic.”
Kettlewell added: “But I stress it again, I have to try and make sure that the players have that confidence and belief that when we have our spells on the ball, when we attack their half of the pitch, that we do it with a structure, we do it with a plan but most importantly we do it with a confidence.
“There have been several occasions in my time where we’ve probably had a go and we’ve come out and tried to score goals and try to be as offensive as we can against teams such as Celtic.
“So it’s getting a balance but it’s not just for 90 minutes, it’s getting a balance through 10-15 minute spells of the game and trying to ensure that we can maximise those opportunities that we have to attack them.
“But I think it becomes incredibly naive to sit and say that you’re going to play your most attacking team for 90 minutes and you’re just going to come out and come after Celtic.
“You try doing that over 36-38 games a season and have a look at what the outcome will be.”