LUKE McCOWAN admits only sheer hard work and battling qualities will allow Celtic a case for the defence.
The champions conceded twice in the first eight minutes in Livingston at the weekend to bring their tally of goals against to an unacceptable THIRTEEN in Wilfried Nancy’s first six games.
McCowan, who is manfully attempting to cope with his new wing-back role in the Frenchman’s formation, has urged his team-mates to close the back door against Motherwell at Fir Park tomorrow night in the Hoops’ effort to go level on points with Hearts at the Premiership pinnacle.
PULLING POWER…Luke McCowan struggles to stay on his feet after the attentions of a Partick Thistle player in Celtic’s 4-0 Premier Sports League Cup win at Firhill in September.
The wobbly rearguard was bailed out in West Lothian when Benjamin Nygren struck with a double and Yang Hyun-jun and Arne Engels (pen) added the others in a rollercoaster opening 45 minutes.
A shut-out has been outwith the capabilities of the back lot since Nancy took over the hot seat.
They face another acid test against Jens Berthel Askou’s organised Well outfit and, asked if the goals against column was becoming a worry, McCowan answered: “It’s not a concern if you go and outscore teams. But you don’t want that to always be the case.
“You want to be as solid as you can. We need to gel together and make sure it doesn’t happen as much as it has been. We have been conceding more goals than we are used to and we need to get on top of that.
“We need to get on the training pitch, figure out what the problem is and get together.”
The stoppage-time defeat at Parkhead on October 5 – ironically Brendan Rodgers’ final league win as Celtic gaffer – was one of only three Premiership losses for the Lanarkshire club.
Looking at the overall situation, McCowan, speaking to the Daily Record, continued: “December and January are when the most important games are in the league.
“We know the next performance has to be big against a good Motherwell side, who have been in form. We need to keep on top of this and keep fighting.”
SMILES BETTER…Luke McCowan celebrates scoring Celtic’s first goal of the season with the winner against St Mirren at Parkhead on August 3.
The second derby of the season is due at Parkhead on Saturday and McCowan played only a cameo role in the first at Ibrox in August when two teams sleep-walked through one of the most tedious all-Glasgow confrontations in living memory that ended in a dismal scoreless stalemate.
Remaining focused on the immediate task ahead, McCowan added: “I am sorry to be robotic, but every game you play for Celtic is pivotal.
“You have seen recently when we went through a bit of a bad run, that it was like the end of the world and ‘Hearts are on top’ and whatever.
“We just need to stay on top of our performances, keep fighting and we will get there. Of course it would be good to go into next weekend level on points at the top, but we need to focus on the performances.”
Organising the defence would be a reasonable start.
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