Derek McInnes admits Celtic is the most daunting challenge for any Scottish Premiership team – and warned his Kilmarnock stars they must deliver in FOUR areas for success against the Hoops.
Brendan Rodgers and his troops arrive at Rugby Park on Sunday off the back of a stunning Champions League success under the lights at Parkhead after a brilliant 3-1 win over RB Leipzig. It was a real performance of composure, energy and determination as the Scottish champions moved onto seven points in the section and put themselves in a strong position for the knockout round ahead of the final four games – including two home outings with Club Brugge and Young Boys.
Domestically, Celtic are also flying with nine wins and one draw – alongside Aberdeen – at the Premiership summit. But they stepped up a level against Jimmy Thelin’s men at Hampden and thrashed them 6-0 in the semi-final of the Premier Sports Cup to book a return to the national stadium next month to face Rangers. It was a first defeat on the CV of the Dons boss and McInnes has noted the approaches taken by the Swede and Marco Rose in the last couple of games against the Hoops.
Speaking to Sky Sports, McInnes said: “First and foremost it was a top class performance from Celtic against a top class opponent. Clearly Celtic are a team that are improving. We’ve seen over the last couple of games, different approaches from other managers. Whether to sit off them at times like Aberdeen did and play from shape and Celtic can still get through you and Leipzig really getting after Celtic last night, and they had the answers.
“There is no doubt they are coming here buoyant and in a good frame of mind. But what they need to make sure they are getting when they come here is a tough game and a team who want to try and put them in a place, get after them and make it difficult for them.
“There is no doubt Celtic are a strong team. Over the last few seasons and particularly this season, I think they present managers with the biggest challenges and present players with more decisions to make on the pitch.
“But we are looking forward to trying to take on a team like that and have shown in the past when we have got results, we’ve had to do so much right in the game and none more so than last season and hopefully as I say we can be that team again and give ourselves a chance.”
Meanwhile, McInnes reckons Stuart Findlay’s devastating absence is the Kilmarnock version of Celtic losing Cameron Carter-Vickers. The Rugby Park boss is awaiting scan results as he revealed his key stopper could be out for the rest of the season in the worst-case scenario after sustaining a serious ankle injury last weekend at Dundee.
Del hopes it’s much-brighter news with a far-shorter absence as the Killie manager feels Findlay is as vital to his team as the American ace to the champions. McInnes said: “Stu has almost been perfect since he came to the club.
“He’s the equivalent of Carter-Vickers coming out of a Celtic team for that, that’s how big an influence he is. Thankfully there’s no dislocation or fracture which was our first concern, but he’s got severe ligament damage.
“We’ve had him scanned last [Tuesday] night, we still haven’t got the results to give us the clear picture, but we’re going to be without him for probably, I don’t know, two, three, four months, there’s no doubt about that.
“He’s got some severe damage. It could be a difference of seven or eight weeks depending on the scan. So it could be from two-to-three months or four-to-six months potentially if it’s the worst case scenario on the scan.
“Hopefully he gets a wee bit of good news. That’s what both of us are talking about and hoping for, but he won’t be seen for a while yet. I spoke to him, he quite liked the gas and air, to be honest! “He was talking about that, but he’s trying to be philosophical.
“We know injuries happen, he’s gutted, no doubt, and we just need to wait and, hopefully, we get a favourable outcome. He’s been a wee bit fortunate the doctors at Dundee and our staff managed to get it back into place, but it was a painful one for him.
“Stuart’s a big, big player for us, the defender who plays every week for me and has such a huge influence on the team. A real blow, but we need to deal without important players at some stage in the season and we’re going to have to cope with that.”
McInnes, who revealed Danny Armstrong may also miss Sunday’s game against Celtic, added: “I’ve coped with it with key players before and there’s no point in crying about it. We just need to deal with it as we go along.”