Mark McLaughlin hopes Accies can triumph against Celtic

Oct 22 2009

MARK McLaughlin hopes to freeze out Celtic’s red-hot strikers on Sunday, and insists the pressure is all on Tony Mowbray’s title contenders.

Motherwell frustrated the Parkhead side at Celtic Park last Saturday with a 0-0 draw, and Marko hopes Accies can also grab a result at New Douglas Park this weekend.

Defender McLaughlin was outstanding in Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Dundee United, and hopes Hamilton can take that performance into Sunday’s clash.

He said: “It’s another big game for us but we’ll take the positives out of Saturday’s result and try to do that again against Celtic.

“It will be very hard because they’re a fantastic side – Celtic and Rangers are a class above everybody else on their day, but hopefully they’ll be on a bad day on
Sunday.

“I hope we play like we did on Saturday, but for the whole 90 minutes.

“We used the international break wisely with a mini pre-season and we’re fitter and have a better team spirit because of it.

“If we go into the game against Celtic with the same confidence that we showed on Saturday then hopefully we can take something.

“We’ve got nothing to lose because nobody will expect us to get anything anyway, so there is no pressure on Hamilton – it’s all on Celtic.

“If we play like we did on Saturday there’s no reason why we can’t take something from the game.”

Mark was disappointed not to have taken full points from Tannadice, but is focusing on the positive aspects of Hamilton’s performance.

He said: “There was a bit of deja-vu after last year when we also lost a goal in the last minute at Tannadice, and we were extremely disappointed.

“However, we take the positive from how well we played and passed the ball about, and that we defended as a team.

"United threw everything they had at us for the last 20 minutes and they’ll probably feel they deserved something – especially since they hit the post and the bar – but we’ll take the positives.

“To be that close and to lose a goal so late on was disappointing, because in that position you get greedy for the three points and think you can hold on.

“But to be disappointed at coming away from Tannadice with just a point says a lot about us, because Dundee United are a fantastic side with real strength in depth.”