1 DAY TO GO
CRAIG SWAN
SCOTT SINCLAIR insists he’s in the perfect place to make more magic memories at Ibrox. The Celtic forward is flying ahead of tomorrow’s Old Firm showdown after recapturing some of his best form. Sinclair’s sizzling hat-trick in the 4-3 Boxing Day success over Aberdeen at Pittodrie has put him in an ideal spot heading across Glasgow to Govan. The 29-year-old now has four goals in his last three games after smashing through the half-century of Hoops strikes with Rangers next on the hit-list. Sinclair is full of belief going to Ibrox and has cherished recollections to add to his positive mindset as he prepares for the massive encounter. During his stunning first campaign at the club, the Englishman bagged four goals against Rangers as the Hoops constantly put their rivals to the sword. Two of those precious strikes came in crucial wins at Ibrox and, having managed to get himself back into top gear for this next trip across the River Clyde to the home of the Light Blues, Sinclair is in the right spot to hit more heights.
He said: “Personally, you can’t do much better than a hat-trick when it comes to confidence going into the next game.
“As a team, we’re all in good spirits in the camp and we are all going to be ready for the weekend. “Every match we go into, we want to win and I enjoy the big games. All the players are up for it. “We have got some good memories of Ibrox but this is another match and we go into it the way we would against anyone else. “It’s great for my c.swan@dailyrecord.co.uk confidence to get a hat-trick. I was aware that I was near the 50 goal mark for Celtic and it’s a great achievement to get over the mark.
“My last hat-trick was against Hearts in my first season to clinch the title.
“So it seemed like a long time ago and it was great to do it again. I want to build on that. Hopefully I can keep on scoring.”
Sinclair’s ascent back towards his peak has been a huge bonus for the champions this term.
With Leigh Griffiths on a break from the game, Odsonne Edouard having been struck down by a recent injury and Mikey Johnston still short on big-game experience, the former Aston Villa man has stepped up to the plate.
Sinclair has endured some hard times since that sizzling first campaign at Celtic but his belief has been unswerving and his willingness to work for the squad has never been questioned.
Boss Brendan Rodgers has described him as a big-game player and Sinclair said: “Sometimes you have to go through tough times.
“The first years I have been here at Celtic, there has been nothing better. There was no negativity, just all positive.
“There is always going to come a time when you get negativity but it’s about just getting the head down and continuing to keep working hard and having a never give up attitude.
“It’s always going to go in patches and I always keep pushing forward in training and giving 100 per cent.
“There will always be times when you get the chances and score the goals.”
With Edouard also returning in style at Pittodrie and Ryan Christie joining James Forrest in taking a share of the scoring burden in the past couple of months, Celtic have the weapons available to damage their nearest title challengers.
Tom Rogic is out of the Ibrox clash having jetted out to join the Australian national team for the Asian Cup but Sinclair believes the squad can cope with any setbacks and find a way to get a job done.
He said: “The manager always works on certain things. We didn’t have a striker at Pittodrie so Ryan went up top and played a false nine.
SCOTT SINCLAIR ‘Gerrard is an inexperienced boss with a lot of hype and no clout. He made 14 signings and none sticks out. His tactics are predictable.’
“He did really well and then Odsonne made a great impact when he went on to the pitch.
“We are a top-level team. Players have come into it.
“Ryan in the past couple of months has been exceptional and has added goals to his tally. Odsonne is fully fit now and he was really sharp when he went into the game against Aberdeen.
“There’s a few other players as well but as a team there is a lot of competition and everyone keeps everyone else on their toes all the time.
“Going forward now, it’s about the whole team and how we perform.
“Are we as hungry as ever? Yeah. You can see that with the characters in the squad.
“At Aberdeen in the last 20 minutes when we had to dig deep, we did so and got a result.
“It’s the same for everyone. It’s how you perform on the weekend and also during the week in training.
“You never get complacent, make sure you always give 100 per cent and keep working on your game.
“Every game is important and we have a winning mentality as a squad and a team.” Mikey Johnston and Anthony Ralston. Our defence, including Mikael Lustig, was pathetic against Aberdeen and we were fortunate to win.
“Dedryck Boyata was back to his old self again and don’t start me on Craig Gordon.
“We have a problem at left-back as Emilio Izaguirre was terrible and Rangers certainly won’t fear us.”
said: “Boyata’s first game back and Celtic ship three goals. Enough said.”
said: “I’d like to hear Graeme Shinnie’s thoughts on class or lack of it after that dive at Pittodrie. And Willie Collum’s display was utterly abysmal.
“I am now asking the question if there is a refereeing agenda against Celtic. It seems to be getting more blatant with each passing week. Niall McGinn got away with another red-card challenge.
“Before people say I am being paranoid – Aberdeen’s Scott McKenna, Livingston’s Dolly Menga and Hearts player Steven MacLean have all copped retrospective bans for incidents involving Celtic players this season.”
said: “The momentum is gathering on ‘Operation Stop The 10’ which moved to a new level with Collum at Pittodrie.”
said: “If Kieran Tierney can’t make the Rangers game then Jonny Hayes should deputise.
“Hayes’ contribution from left-back against Aberdeen was outstanding.”
Finally e-mailed: “Come on, all this talk of a close title race is nonsense. It’s clear Celtic operate below their potential in our league and will win the title by a minimum of 13 points.
“If you don’t believe me take a look at the bookies and see how low the odds are.” CALL THE HOTLINE TODAY FROM 11 TILL 12 NOON on: 0141 309 3306 or email us: hotline@dailyrecord.co.uk