Aldred braced to face strikers of ‘Premier League quality’

Motherwell defender Tom Aldred believes Celtic would not be out of place among the stars of the English Premier League.

The on-loan Bury player has been surprised by the range of abilities on show in the Ladbrokes Premiership since joining Well in January, but he has no doubts about the quality he will face when Brendan Rodgers’ treble chasers arrive at Fir Park tomorrow.

“It’s surprised me with the different types of quality there is out there,” said the 27-year-old, asked for his views on the game north of the Border. “I was really looking forward to coming up here. I’d played a lot down south and felt I was ready for something different.

“I’m relishing playing against some good strikers and they probably come no better than what Celtic possess this weekend.

“There is a massive variation in quality up here. I’ve still to play against some of the top teams but up here there is a big difference between the teams.

“Down south, depending on what league you’re in you sort of know what you’re going to get. Here you can play against players who might represent League Two level in England – but on Sunday we’re coming up against guys who are at Premier League and international level.”

Motherwell melted against Hamilton last week, losing 2-0, but Aldred believes they are ready to bounce back as they look to build up momentum ahead of fixtures with Rangers, Aberdeen and St Johnstone.

“When you have a result like last weekend you need a reaction,” he said. “We were disappointed not just with the result but with the performance.

“But to be honest, I don’t think you need much more incentive than we have when you go up against Celtic, so we’ll be ready.

“We’ll be ready for the run of games coming up. As a player they’re the games that you don’t just look forward to but you pride yourself on going out and getting a result in, so we’ll be right up for it.”