Ross County manager Jim McIntyre says the Staggies must be in the mood to punish Celtic if they are to keep the Parkhead crowd quiet in tomorrow’s Premiership encounter.
County know the pathway to success against the Hoops, having memorably defeated them 3-1 in January’s League Cup semi-final at Hampden Park. However, the Dingwall men are still searching for their first win at Parkhead.
Celtic are clear at the top of the Premiership but manager Ronny Deila this week announced he will leave at the end of the season following last weekend’s Scottish Cup semi-final defeat by Rangers.
McIntyre feels his players can cause the Glasgow side further problems and he said: “It’s a tough match but one thing we’ve got to do is make sure we’re really well organised.
“We always need a bit of luck at Parkhead.
“Whatever atmosphere it is, it’s up to us to make sure we’re hard to beat and we’ve got the balance right of being a threat as well.
“That’s always the most important thing when we play the Old Firm. We need to be hard to beat but also carry that goal threat that can win us the match.
“We’ve got to do both sets of that really well, we know that. They’ve got some very good players and international players, so we know it’s a tough match but we’re capable of beating any team on our day.
“Any time we’re going into a stadium that has a lot of supporters, the away team has to try and keep them as quiet as possible.”
McIntyre expects recent events at Parkhead to bring about a response from the Celtic players and he says his side must be up to the mark.
He added: “We need our players to play well. We need to make sure we grow into the game – that’s so important when we play against the bigger sides.
“We’re going to have to do that again, as given what’s happened this week, and last Sunday, Celtic’s players are going to have that real determination to get a positive result.
“Equally, so will we and it’s up to us to make sure we stop that.”
County have skipper Andrew Davies and midfielder Martin Woods out through suspension but Jackson Irvine returns following ankle ligament damage.
