Frail sets first team target for development bhoys against Thistle

Celtic’s Development squad emerge from behind closed doors to take on Partick Thistle today in the ARR Craib Cup at Firhill, kick-off 12 noon.

Under the guidance of Stevie Frail and Danny McGrain the squad have beaten Concordia of Romania and Bury so far and travel over to Belfast to face Cliftonville next Saturday.

Frail’s squad has been bolstered by the arrival of Tony Watt, Lewis Toshney, Andre Blackman and Rabui Ibrahim who spent 10 days in Germany working with Neil Lennon’s first team squad.

The development squad fits in between the youth and first team set-ups with Frail very clear about the targets he has.

“Although it’s a team game the main aim of this team is to make sure that players are ready to step up into the first team,” the hoops coach stated. “Consistency of selection doesn’t matter to me, everyone that comes in can do a job and is in the thoughts of the manager.

“We’ve got four of the players coming back from Germany and that shows that the manager rates this as an important weekend for the development squad.

“I was speaking to Jackie McNamara during the week and we’re both hoping that there’s a big crowd and a good atmosphere like last season. The weather was good and players like to be in front of a crowd.

“There’s pressure to win every game at Celtic, having a crowd at the match adds an edge and that’s something that players and coaches thrive on.

“We’ve got two games in two days which is tough when you don’t have a huge squad, we’ve got a squad of players away in Germany and the younger players are in Portugal for a fortnight.

“Some players will get 90 minutes against Thistle and also start on Sunday and that will help their fitness. Most of the squad have had 90 minutes already and for others like the four that were out in Germany they’ll benefit from getting a full 90 minutes.”

Frail added: “I’ve been delighted with the two games that we’ve had, especially the match with Concordia from Romania.

“They played virtually their first team and it was their fourth game in Scotland, to beat them in our first match was a great result. The fitness was fine, the pitch was a bit heavy but I was really pleased by the display.

“After that we went down to Bury, we travelled down on the bus but looked sharp, both teams were evenly matched so it was good to run out 4-2 winners.

“I’ve been pleased with the levels of performance, one or two things have been not so pleasing and we’ve been working on them for this weekends matches.”

You can pay at the turnstiles for today’s match which is followed by a game between an Everton XI and Airdrie United.

The third/fourth place play off and final takes place tomorrow with kick-off’s at 12 noon and 2.45. Day tickets cost £15, weekend ticket is £25 with concessions at £15 and £10.

You can follow all the weekend action on twitter.

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