BIG BHOYS BACK
Carter-Vickers says Celtic primed for the run-in
BRENDAN Rodgers has all his big stars back — and Cameron CarterVickers believes Celtic are about to shine now the pressure is on.
The league leaders have seen the return of a number of their key men such as Callum McGregor, Reo Hatate and the American in recent weeks and that has given them a lift going into the run-in.
CCV believes Celtic are only going to get better going into the top-six fixtures and ahead of the Scottish Cup showcase against Rangers.
They take on Dundee, Hearts, Rangers, Kilmarnock and St Mirren in the split.
“I think we are getting close to our strongest side out there now,” the US international claimed.
“It’s always good to come into the last part of the season when you are in full flow and you have a good rhythm about you. That’s definitely important for us.
“If you look at our performances throughout the season, not just those three players you’ve mentioned (him, McGregor, Hatate) but everyone is peaking at the right time.
“That’s always what you are looking for.” Celtic didn’t have the same conviction when the likes of McGregor, Hatate and CCV were out.
They are now back on the frontline and ready to get their side firing.
Rodgers and the majority of this Celtic squad have the medals and knowhow to come through in this final straight.
Performances
Carter-Vickers knows it will help — but the only thing that will get them over the line are their performances on the park.
The former Tottenham defender said: “I’m not sure that it does, to be honest. It’s always good to have experiences of playing here before.
“You can lean on stuff like that, but it’s always about how you perform on the day. I don’t necessarily think that just because you’ve won somewhere before, that it helps on the day.”
Celtic were pushed all the way in their Scottish Cup semi-final win over Aberdeen that went to a penalty shoot-out.
CCV is well aware they will need to up their game when they go to Dens Park on
Sunday to take on a Dundee team who are also now dreaming of a European return.
They also showed what they are capable of when they did Celtic a favour as Rangers dropped two points there last time out.
The Celtic star acknowledged:“There’s always room for improvement. Even if you are winning games comfortably, there are always things you can tweak and look to get better at.
“That’s what we always try to do in training. Right now, we’ve got a few days training until the next game against
Dundee. We’ll go back to the training ground to just try to improve. That’s what we’ve been trying to do all season.”
Vickers knows there are areas where his side can tighten up.
They came under fire for losing late goals in normal time and extratime against Aberdeen.
He admitted: “It was a crazy game.
I actually thought for some large parts, some o f our (left) stuff on the ball was pretty good.
“We created a lot of chances. Obviously I think defensively there are a few things we can look at and try to improve upon.
“We started getting a bit too deep off the ball which gave them their chances from crosses and second balls and stuff like that, but obviously the positive is just getting into the final. Straight before a game, you try and focus on the performance and try to take the occasion out of it, but afterwards, the result is most important.”
Similar
The Hampden semi-final had everything — and Carter-Vickers reckons that is becoming a recurring theme for Celtic.
They saw something similar when Rangers came back to earn a 3-3 draw earlier this month. The 26-year-old, when asked if he had played in a game like the Aberdeen semi-final, answered: “Probably the one at Ibrox a few weeks ago. It’s like anything else, we would probably have liked a bit more control at times in the game. It’s always good to win no matter how you do it. To win on penalties was good fun.” Carter-Vickers has had hamstring issues this season — but now he feels he is over them.
He joked that he was tired after 120 plus minutes at Hampden — but he is another who is coming into his peak just at the right times. Carter-Vickers claimed: “I’m a little bit tired, to be honest.
“I felt alright out there. It’s good to be playing and contributing to the team and doing the best I can. That’s what I’m trying to