The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Bewaryof Steelmen warns McInness
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes has warned his players they must be ready for a Motherwell side travelling north with a point to prove.
The Dons thumped the Steelmen 7-2 at Pittodrie last month in one of Mark McGhee’s final matches in charge of the Fir Park club before being sacked.
Motherwell caretaker Stephen Robinson helped lead the team to an important 2-1 victory at Kilmarnock last Saturday that moved them five points clear of bottom-of-the-league Caley Thistle.
McInnes believes today’s opponents will be determined to make amends after suffering such a heavy defeat in Aberdeen three weeks ago.
He said: “Motherwell will have an added motivation after the last game here.
“They will want to do better than they did the last time and I’m sure they will.
“There were a lot of individual errors in the game and our attacking work was very good that day.
“Motherwell are better than what they showed that night, so I think it will be far closer.
“They got a good win last week and will be doing all they can for Stephen to get the job if he wants it.
“They will change their shape and there are different players in the team. Every game is different but we just want the same outcome – three points.
“There are so few league games left, so you just have to hammer home every opportunity that comes along.
“We have been very strong at home this season and hopefully we can continue that.”
Andrew Considine will miss today’s match through suspension, while Mark Reynolds is set for at least a month on the sidelines following a hernia operation.
That means Irishman Anthony O’Connor is likely to make his first start in defence since December’s 2-1 defeat by Ross County in Dingwall. Celtic striker Moussa Dembele has consigned his hat-trick against Rangers to the past as he looks for more goals against the Light Blues tomorrow.
The turning point in the 20-year-old French striker’s season following his summer move from Fulham came in his first Old Firm game at Celtic Park last September.
After coming in for the injured Leigh Griffiths, Dembele left Parkhead with the match ball following the thumping 5-1 Ladbrokes Premiership win over the Ibrox men.
Dembele scored in each of his following two games against Rangers and has taken his tally to 32 for the season with his six league goals in February earning him the Ladbrokes Premiership player of the month award.
While acknowledging the importance of the Old Firm hat-trick, he is looking forward rather than back.
“It was a big moment in my Celtic career,” he said.
“It was my first hat-trick as a professional footballer and my first league goals too for Celtic. “It is all about opportunities. “I try to take mine when the gaffer gave me a chance to play and since then I have tried to give 100 per cent in training and in games to stay on the pitch.
“It was a good day to remember but it has gone now and we have another game on Sunday.
“As a young kid you dream of being part of games like this and now I am so I will just enjoy the moment and show what I can do.
“I am looking forward to the Rangers game as I have been looking forward to every other game.
“We have to make sure we prepare Rangers caretaker manager Graeme Murty has ordered his players to put thoughts of a new manager out of their minds and focus on Sunday’s Glasgow derby at Celtic Park.
The Ibrox club moved a major step closer to replacing Mark Warburton on Thursday when Qatari club Al Gharafa announced they had agreed a deal to allow their boss, Pedro Caixinha, to leave for Glasgow.
But Rangers are yet to confirm an appointment and Murty looks almost certain to be in charge for Sunday’s trip to face the runaway Ladbrokes Premiership leaders.
When asked whether it would be his last game in charge, Murty said: “I don’t know. I actually didn’t think I would be like we prepare for every other game.”
Dembele, who cost Celtic a reported £500,000 when he made the move from Fulham, has been tipped for a call up to the France senior side for the World Cup qualifier against Luxembourg on March 25.
The in-form forward also scored four goals for the French Under-21 side – including a double against England late last year – and was named as his country’s best young player of 2016 in December.
However, he does not believe