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Celtic logo
Scottish Premiership | Gameweek 27
Feb 24, 2019 at 3pm UK
 
Motherwell logo

4-1

Sinclair (31'), Edouard (37', 88'), Burke (91')
FT(HT: 2-0)
Ariyibi (51')

Robinson believes his players can cause problems for Celtic

Robinson believes his players can cause problems for Celtic
© Reuters
The Motherwell manager takes his team to Parkhead in search of a seventh consecutive league victory.

Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson believes his new-look team are more equipped to cause the Celtic defence problems at Parkhead.

Both Robinson's side and the Ladbrokes Premiership leaders are going for a seventh consecutive league victory when they meet on Sunday.

The Steelmen lost 3-0 at Celtic Park on December 19 and a much-changed team rarely troubled their hosts during a first half when they conceded three goals.

But they have a new shape to them with wingers Jake Hastie and Gboly Ariyibi adding pace and directness to their play, with Elliott Frear providing good support from the bench in recent weeks.

Robinson admits they will need to focus on keeping Celtic out in the build-up to Sunday's game but he wants to maintain his side's goal threat.

"You take each game individually," he said.

"The last time I changed it, I brought experienced players in. I didn't make wholesale changes as a shadow squad, I put experienced players in, probably more experienced than the boys I left out that night and Celtic were too good for us that night.

"But I think we are a different proposition now. We have got a more attacking threat. We have players who can hit Celtic on the break, which I didn't feel we had before.

"Make no mistake, Celtic will have a lot of the ball, they always do. They will dominate possession. But it's what we do when we land on the ball.

"Perhaps that's my biggest regret from the last game. Yes, we were organised to an extent, defensively we were OK, we switched off for the goals individually, but when we landed on the ball we didn't have the bravery, we didn't have the belief, we maybe didn't have the pace and quality at that stage either. I believe we do now when we land on it.

"So that's the important factor. Being organised is one thing, being disciplined is one thing, but being able to hit teams on the break and being able to hit those decisive passes, I believe we have got the players in the team that can do that."

Motherwell have not won seven consecutive top-flight games since 1933, the year after they won their only Scottish title.

"If you can't go in confident now you never can," Robinson said.

"We go in with a game plan, we will go in confident.

"We are well aware Celtic are a top, top side, they are eight points clear, so we have to be at the top of our game and produce the form we have produced in the last few weeks."

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Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson pictured in April 2018
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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Celtic23193164115360
2RangersRangers24155447192850
3Dundee UnitedDundee Utd2410773227537
4Aberdeen2410593236-435
5Motherwell2494112939-1031
6Hibernian247983537-230
7St Mirren2493123038-830
8Dundee2376103741-427
9Hearts2476112833-527
10Ross County2468102443-1926
11Kilmarnock2467112740-1325
12St Johnstone2453162748-2118


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