Motherwell boss sends blunt message before Celtic game

Next up for Celtic in the league is an away trip on Saturday to Fir Park as they are set to take on fourth-placed Motherwell. It could be a tough game for Brendan Rodgers’ side following the 3-0 win away at Livingston last weekend, even though they were down to ten men after Joe Hart was sent off.

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell seems to have been looking ahead to the match. He will no doubt take confidence from his side’s narrow 1-0 loss on Sunday at Ibrox to the Rangers.

Motherwell perhaps deserved more from the game. By the end of the match, they had the home side defending nervously as the visitors pressed for an equaliser.

Kettlewell also seems to have been drawing inspiration from Kilmarnock. They have remarkably gotten the better of both Celtic and the Rangers this season. They handed a 1-0 defeat to Michael Beale’s team in their opening Premiership match. And quickly followed it up with another 1-0 win, this time over the Hoops to knock them out of the Scottish League Cup.

Motherwell boss sends blunt message before Celtic game

As reported by the Daily Record, Kettlewell said before the Motherwell vs Celtic game this weekend:

"“I saw Kilmarnock beat Celtic live and I thought they deserved it and executed their game plan to a tee. It wasn’t a fluke. They were structured, organised and carried a threat. You need to be all those things to get a result against Rangers or Celtic.”"

There’s a lot of truth in all that Kettlewell said. Kilmarnock did achieve two terrific results and both were well deserved. Neither Celtic nor the Rangers played well, but Derek McInnes had his players well-drilled and organised for both matches.

It’s certainly also true that a mixture of injuries and new players coming through meant that Celtic weren’t at their best so early in the season. But Rodgers seems to have got his squad better prepared now, and with some players like Reo Hatate returning from injury and new signings settling in, he has a deeper and stronger squad to select from.

Kettlewell will undoubtedly look to field a well-organised and structured side, but to be honest, that’s what Celtic face each week. The opposition have to be prepared and ready to face the Hoops, otherwise, they have little or no chance of getting anything from the game.