Stevie Frail wants Celtic’s Next Gen kids to repeat their most impressive performance of the tournament when they take on PSV Eindhoven tonight.
A win for either side coupled with a home win for Sporting Lisbon over Aston Villa guarantees a place in the next stage with the bonus of four of the best third placed sides also progressing.
Celtic demolished the Dutch side 3-1 at Firhill last month with all three goals coming in the first 20 minutes as the hoops hit top gear.
“We can draw confidence from that result but the players know that it is all about tonight,” Frail explained.
“As coaches we are always looking for performances but tonight is a one off cup tie and it’s about winning.
“We’ve had a few slow starts in the Next Gen games and that’s very frustrating for the coaches and players. We’ve had good spells in every game but not really put together a strong 90 minutes.
“Last week at Sporting Lisbon was another example of that. Against Barcelona last season we got turned over and we hold our hands up for that but there’s been no games like that this season.
“The boys have learned a lot and showed that they are an equal of the other sides in the group but we’ve only got four points to show for our efforts.
“A win tonight would change all that and it’s what we are geared up for. The fact that we’re playing at the Philips Stadium shows the importance of the game for PSV Eindhoven.
“Last year we had Tony Watt in our squad and he’s gone on to shine in the Champions League, the Next Gen Series gives players that sort of opportunity and we’d love to make it through to the next stage.”
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I hope the current players do take inspiration from Tony Watt’s progress…next year it could be them playing / scoring in the CL.
The fact PSV have switched the game to their main stadium shows how highly motivated they are to win, we MUST hit the ground running from the first whistle.
Best of luck bhoys.