John Kennedy can’t wait to get his top team on the park against Manchester City tonight.
Since beating the Premiership giants 4-2 last month five of the Celtic u-19s have been drafted into the first team squad with Marcus Fraser and Dylan McGeough making their debuts.
Kennedy’s side have had to dip into the u-17 pool against Kilmarnock and Aberdeen but have maintained their impressive form scoring nine goals in the process of picking up full points.
Playing at Celtic Park is always a thrill for the youth team players with expectations high for tonight’s match following their comprehensive win over City who also lost 4-1 in Barcelona last week.
“We have to win this match if we want to stay in the competition,” Kennedy stated. “Manchester City will be a tough nut to crack and will be hurting after we beat them on their home patch. They’ll want to do the same to us especially with the game at Celtic Park.
“Every game is different and in football you can’t live in the past. We have to show the right attitude and commitment and hopefully we can replicate the form we showed in Manchester.
“These games bring excitement. It’s great for everyone to play at Celtic Park against good opposition and there’s no need to motivate anyone. The players are going in the right direction and looking forward to getting onto the big stage.”
Man City tv view of City 2-4 Celtic
Since winning away to City Fraser, McGeough, Paul George, Joe Chalmers and Callum McGregor have been working with the first team.
Kennedy will get his squad back later today but has no worries about the lack of time they’ve spent together preparing for tonight’s match.
“We’ve not had much time together to work on things but it’s great to have players around the first team,” he added.”Four of them were on the bench against Motherwell and that’s fantastic for us.
“The players all know each others game and there won’t be any problem because they haven’t been together over the last week- they know what is required.
“There’s a good excitement about the whole group when they see some of their team-mates getting involved with the first team. The manager and backroom team will be watching them in this match and it’s important that our players do themselves justice. We want as many as possible to get their opportunity and get into the managers thoughts.
“These games are great for the players, they are gaining experience and attracting attention when they are being compared to Barcelona, Manchester City and Marseilles. There’s not much between us and those sides.”
Tonight’s match kicks off at 7.45 with tickets available at the turnstiles.
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