The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Dods focuses on positives despite Brechin defeat at Celtic Park.
Boss hails Glebe Park battlers – and calls on players to maintain high standards in fight against relegation
Brechin City boss Darren Dods insists that his players can draw some positives despite being thrashed by Celtic in their Scottish Cup fourth round clash at Celtic Park on Saturday.
The Glebe Park outfit, without a win in the Ladbrokes Championship this season despite some creditable performances, were facing a mammoth task as they lined up against Brendan Rodgers’ all-conquering side, beaten just once in their last 74 domestic matches.
A regular visitor to Celtic Park during his days with St Johnstone, Inverness and Dundee United, Dods admitted the Angus side “got off to the worst possible start.”
“We lost a goal within the first minute and an uncharacteristic error saw us go two goals down after just 10 minutes,” he said.
“Celtic Park is the worst possible place you would wish to be at that stage of the match but, to be fair, the boys stuck at their task and regained their composure a bit as the first half went on.
“We then worked really hard and managed to contain them although to be fair, we didn’t have an awful lot of the ball.
“We then came out for the second half and once again lost two goals within the first 10 minutes, but we stuck to our task, we didn’t crumble and we kept going and we had a few corners and a few shots at goal.
“It was then very disappointing to lose a fifth goal as the players had worked so hard but we allowed them too much space in the box before they tucked it away.
“Despite the scoreline, a number of our players can take a lot of credit from the match as it has enabled them to set their standards against an extremely good team and it will be really good if they can manage to maintain those levels in the remaining games of the league campaign.”
With City still looking for their first league victory after 21 games, the task facing the Glebe Park men was always going to be mammoth and that couldn’t have been underlined more emphatically than the manner of Celtic’s opening goal.
Not a City player had touched the ball as the Hoops strung 48 passes together before winger James Forrest found the net with a simple finish.
Provider Scott Sinclair helped himself to a goal soon afterwards with midfielder Olivier Ntcham, defender Dedryck Boyata and striker Odsonne Edouard adding further strikes after the break.
It was a comfortable afternoon for the Ladbrokes Premiership leaders on their return from a three-week winter break which included a training camp in Dubai.
Despitethe scoreline, a number of ourplayers can take a lot of credit from the match. DARREN DODS
Rodgers gave Brechin the respect of naming a strong side and he gave 20-year-old French striker Edouard the chance to lead the line.
When the game got under way after a minute’s applause in tribute to former West Brom, Coventry and England striker Cyrille Regis, who died last week, the treble winners immediately demonstrated their prowess when Sinclair, in the first of many speedy runs into the Brechin penalty area, cut the ball back for Forrest to guide in from eight yards.
In the 11th minute Celtic doubled their lead when midfielder Callum Mcgregor intercepted a pass from James Dale inside Brechin’s box and Sinclair swept in the loose ball on the angle.
The lower league side caused a scare in the 16th minute when Euan Spark’s angled-drive from the left was cleared past his own post by Celtic defender Kristoffer Ajer but only by inches.
However, amid numerous efforts on the Brechin goal, away keeper Graeme Smith did enough to deny Ntcham when he raced through with the midfielder then firing wide from 25 yards after a similar effort from Sinclair.
The interval gave Dods’ side some respite which ended three minutes into the second half when Ntcham rose inside the six-yard box to bullet in a header from a Mikael Lustig cross after the full-back had been set up by Edouard.
The afternoon had the potential to become painful for City as Boyata easily headed in a Mcgregor corner in the 55th minute before he came off with skipper Scott Brown, replaced by Nir Bitton and Eboue Kouassi.
However, Brechin kept their shape and in a brief spell of pressure, Hoops keeper Craig Gordon tipped a header from defender Paul Mclean over the bar before Sean Crighton headed wide seconds later from close range.
The Parkhead side appeared a little sloppy and they were given a let off when Brechin substitute Isaac Layne, on for Andy Jackson, escaped the attention of Ajer inside the penalty area only to fire wide of the far post.
Celtic, understandably, ended the game on top with Edouard skying a shot over the bar from six yards in the 84th minute before confidently rifling a drive from 10 yards past Smith – one of only two Brechin players to have played at Celtic Park before – a minute later after taking a pass from Lustig.