David Healy has revealed his secret fear- beating Celtic on Friday then facing a ‘Parkhead’ backlash.
The Linfield boss is revelling in the publicity and attention that this week is bringing but underneath there is the reality that his part-timers could take a hammering.
Celtic finished last season scoring five goals away to Hearts and Sevco with the Tynecastle side beating Linfield 4-1 at the weekend in a friendly.
Much will be made of Celtic’s defeat last season to Lincoln Red Imps but this time around the players have had 12 months of coaching from Rodgers, a grass pitch to play on and temperatures under 34 degrees.
The odds on a home win are around 7/1 or 8/1 but the former Rangers (IL) striker admits that beating Celtic on Friday has crossed his mind.
“To be honest I try and think ‘Oh Christ what if we win?’,” he told The Sun.
“And sometimes you fear when you come out of the first leg what the backlash will be like in the second leg.
“Once we select the team, the players and the formation it is up to the players to go out and play them.
“I want every single one to enjoy the next few weeks as it may never happen again. This may be the biggest game I’ll ever manage in and biggest they will ever play in.
“We certainly can’t play our normal Irish League way against Celtic because they can pick you off. It’s not like you can pick off one or two of their threats.
“They have threats all over whatever team they play. We are under no illusions how difficult it will be. But I can’t wait.
“On Friday night I’ll again have found out a lot more about myself as a manager but how far the players have come.”
In the return leg there will be no mercy shown to Linfield from the Celtic fans.
After having the first leg switched to allow the host club to celebrate their hatred of Catholics next weeks game will be played on Wednesday July 19 as originally scheduled by UEFA.