Keep Shankland in his own half – Rice
BRIAN RICE has joked with his Hamilton players that they will need to keep Lawrence Shankland in his own half if they want to snub out his goal threat.
The Accies boss was at Tannadice on Tuesday as the Dundee United striker netted a glory equaliser from fully 53 yards to earn his side a point against St Johnstone.
Rice admitted it was a piece of brilliance that every football fan had to applaud. He said: “His goal was fantastic.
“I was in the stand and I was sitting level with him when he struck the ball. He didn’t even take a touch, he just looked up and hit it. As soon as he hit it you knew it was in.
“What an effort it was, unbelievable! He is a top player and we all know he has that in his locker. It was brilliant to see it go in, it really was.
“Will I be telling my goalkeeper to stay on his line? No, I have just told my players not to give them the ball in our half !”
Rice knows his team face a tough challenge against Micky Mellon’s side tomorrow.
They drew at home in the first game and narrowly lost at Tannadice on their last visit. Rice is well aware that United have quality all over the pitch and can’t just be blinkered on Shankland.
He said: “They’ve done great this season. They pick up points here and there and they are hard to beat.
“We all know Shankland is a goal threat but we can’t just concentrate on him because we know they have a lot of quality.”
LIVINGSTON boss Davie Martindale knows his players will face a weakened Celtic side tomorrow but still reckons it contains £60million of talent.
And he insists that figure could run the entire Lions set-up for the next 60 years.
Martindale watched the Hoops draw with Hibs on Monday night just hours after it emerged 13 stars would have to self-isolate due to defender Christopher Jullien contracting coronavirus.
Odsonne Edouard, Leigh Griffiths, Scott Brown and Kris Ajer were among the players absent, along with manager Neil Lennon and No.2 John Kennedy.
Untried teenager Cameron Harper was thrown in to lead the line, supported by Mikey Johnston, and it will be a similar line-up when Lennon’s side host Livi at
Parkhead. Martindale is preparing his side – on the back of an eight-game winning run – for back-to-back clashes with the nine-in-a-row champions.
But he doesn’t believe the Covid carnage at Parkhead makes his on-form side favourites.
He said: “We can only go out and play the team we play.
“I was looking at Celtic’s squad against Hibs and I was valuing it at around £60m!
“They had an abundance of talent on that pitch – £60m could run my club for 60 years.
“They have a big squad for a reason and even the side that lined up against Hibs was very good. Yes, it’s diminished for a Celtic team but that’s got nothing to do with us. We can only play what’s in front of us. There’s an opportunity to pick up points but, on the flip side, they are more than capable of beating us.”
Livi should have extra energy in their legs after Wednesday’s rescheduled clash with Aberdeen was postponed at short notice for a second time.
New boss Martindale also had his “fit and proper person” hearing cancelled on Monday but it will now be heard at Hampden next Wednesday.
And the club are hopeful their manager, who served a prison sentence more than a decade ago for drug offences, is cleared.
Livi chief executive John Ward said: “We have had great support. Our local MSP Angela Constance, who is the drugs policy minister, spoke to Rod Petrie (SFA president) on our behalf.”