Celtic head back to Dundee this weekend to face Dundee United for the seventh time this season as they edge close to winning the league for the fourth season in a row.
Three points at Tannadice would take Celtic to within two games of clinching the title but Celtic manager Ronny Deila is mindful of the threat that awaits from Jackie McNamara’s side and from the ‘Honest Mistake’ officials. Indeed Celtic’s last visit to Tannadice on league business back in December ended in controversy when the officials ruled out a late Celtic equaliser for offside. TV evidence proved conclusively that it was an ‘Honest Mistake’ and the referee that afternoon was you know who…
“Those who win the league are the best team,” Ronny Deila observed last night. “The league is almost the most important thing to win and if we win on Sunday then we can move closer to doing that.
“We haven’t played Dundee United for at least a month – we have missed them, but I am not sure that they have missed us! It is a bit strange to play a team so often in a short space of time, but it is the same for them.
“We have done well against them lately and we are still enjoying playing our football, so we just want to look forward to the game.
“We would like to get through the rest of the season unbeaten. We have lost only one game in the league since Christmas, and we would like to make sure we win it as quickly as we can.”
As the Celtic players who have endured the tough schedule this season by playing in most of the games, Deila is pleased to see others who haven’t featured so much due to injury, coming to the fore as the season nears its conclusion.
James Forrest was Celtic’s best player last Sunday at Hampden until he had to be sacrificed when Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon was send off early in the second half. Deila acknowledges the effort the player has made to force his way back into the team.
“I have seen a big improvement in James and he has also started to really work hard and show the same kind of consistency in training,” he said.
“It is good to see because we know that when he is at the top of his game that he is such an important player for the team but we need that consistency.”
