It won’t Count with us
MARCUS FRASER insists Ross County aren’t worried about facing a wounded Celtic this weekend.
The ex-Hoops kid knows they will want to recover instantly at Parkhead on Saturday after watching the PSG humbling.
But County defender Fraser insists the Staggies are only focused on their own game plan.
He said: “I like to watch any game on the TV but I was watching closely on Tuesday night.
“PSG obviously showed what a great team they were but Celtic are a good side.
“They have taken a beating from one of the most expensive teams in history and now they face us but I don’t look at that too much.
“Maybe Celtic will change it if they have a few injuries or boys tired from the PSG tie. When we see the team they play on Saturday we will be ready for it.”
After last season’s 7-0 battering by Barcelona, Celtic almost tripped up in Inverness the following Saturday with a 2-2 draw.
Now Fraser reckons they can prove themselves at Parkhead and said: “The biggest thing is you have to believe in yourself out there.
“The boys enjoy going to Celtic Park. It is a challenge to relish.” ALAN STUBBS reckons Celtic could not have stopped PSG’s stars even if they had started with 15 players on the park.
The former Hoops defender was at Celtic Park to see his old club being handed a painful European lesson by Unai Emery’s men.
The most expensive squad ever assembled in world football lived up to their billing as they inflicted Celtic’s worst home defeat in Europe.
Stubbs insists there was nothing Brendan Rodgers’s men could’ve done to prevent being routed by one of the best teams to visit Parkhead.
He said: “I have had the privilege of being part of some great nights at Celtic Park and watching some great teams play there.
“It’s one of the best performances I have seen from a team coming to Celtic Park. It was that impressive.
“We have talked about Messi, Suarez and Neymar at Barcelona for years now.
“Here is the next trio – Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Cavani. The football was breathtaking at times.
“It wasn’t just their movement but their decision making and first touch. It’s a different level.
“Celtic were criticised for not getting close to them. They tried but PSG are so good it looked as if they weren’t getting near them.
“As fans we sit in the stand and shout, ‘Kick him, get close to him’ but it is easier said than done.
“Celtic would have needed 15 players on the pitch and even then I don’t know if that would have helped them.
“Cavani’s headed goal was unbelievable. I can’t believe he got his head to that.”
Stubbs has seen enough to believe PSG have what it takes to win their first Champions League this season.
He said: “It wouldn’t surprise me to see them go on and lift the trophy. They will be even better when they get through the groups stages. PSG have laid down a marker early doors.”
Stubbs, who spent five years at Celtic between 1996 and 2001, reckons even if Rodgers had signed a defender in the summer transfer window it would not have made a difference to the outcome.
But he heaped praise on Hoops kid Anthony Ralston who was given the daunting task of trying to shackle Neymar on his European debut.
Stubbs said: “Signing a new defender in the window wouldn’t have made a great deal of difference to the PSG result. The right one must not have been available and he might not have been better than what he had.
“Brendan didn’t want to bring a defender in for the sake of it as Dedryck Boyata will be back soon enough
“It was a tough first half for Ralston but he acquitted himself really well. He’s 18 years old and he has come up against probably the best player in the world at this moment in time. He was not found wanting. He stuck at it.
“He tried to put Neymar off his game and you have to commend him for that. I thought he grew into it.
“The fact Brendan has thrown him in to start against PSG shows exactly what he thinks of him. He has a really bright future ahead of him.”
● Stubbs was speaking at the Tesco Bank Football Challenge Festival at St Benedict’s Primary School in Glasgow where more than 140,000 children have taken part in the grassroots school programme.