St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright isn’t counting on Brendan Rodgers keeping his star players in cold storage at McDiarmid Park tomorrow.
And even if the Celtic boss does decide to change the side that has taken them to the brink of qualification for the Champions League group stages, with Tuesday night’s £20m match in mind, Wright doesn’t believe it would make their own task any easier.
Wright, who went to Celtic Park to check out the Hoops against Hapoel Be’er Sheva on Wednesday night, said: “It was a good opportunity to see them and they were excellent, particularly first-half. I saw enough to know how tough it is going to be, but Saturday is a different game.
“They have recruited well and with (Scott) Sinclair coming in they have more pace up top than they have had in previous years.
“And Brendan being the good manager that he is, he has got a response from players he inherited, like Scott Brown, who looks rejuvenated.
“They have got a good result in Europe with a three goal cushion. With the depth of their squad you can’t really second guess their team but it wouldn’t weaken the team.
“It was the same when Lenny (Neil Lennon) was the manager. They would play in Europe and get a good result and you might think he would rest a few. But he didn’t do it.”
The outstanding performance of Leigh Griffiths may have opened the eyes of BT Sport host Gary Lineker, but Wright certainly wasn’t surprised by it.
“Maybe these commentators should get up to Scotland a lot more because there is a lot of quality here,” he said.
“Griffiths has proved consistently that he is a top striker and looking at him against the Israelis I’d say he is on course to be even better than he was last year.
“He was excellent. He looks stronger, we all know he will finish in the box but he is an intelligent footballer who is getting better and better. The next step up for him is to get playing regularly in the international team. He is a man in form and one we will have to watch.”
Celtic’s Champions League opponents were more open than expected but Saints fans have every right to expect that their side will not be as porous.
“At half-time I thought there was no way back for them,” Wright said. “I think everyone at the game was in shock when they managed to get it back to 3-2.
“Celtic played well but hopefully we will have a better shape than the Israelis had.
“We know from experience where Celtic’s strengths lie and that is the same with every team we play. We have to set-up out of possession but we have to create chances and try to hurt them.
“You probably get fewer chances against the bigger teams so you have to make the most of them.
“The game doesn’t frighten us in any way. It is a big test for us. But we look on it as a tough, tough challenge and one where we are capable of getting a result, as we have shown in the past.
“We won 2-1 towards the end of last season but that doesn’t mean much, apart from remembering they had a lot of possession early on and we kept the score to 1-0 and came back to win. That is really the only thing to take from it.
“You have to make sure you stay in the game and look to cause them a few problems.”
