CELTIC B WON’T BE PUSHOVERS
Kilby boss not taking young Hoops lightly
Mick Kennedy admits he is wary ahead of East Kilbride’s trip to Celtic B this weekend after Kilby were turned over by Hearts B last month.
The East Kilbride gaffer saw his side fall to their first Lowland League defeat of the season on November 25 when Hearts’ youngsters ran out 4-2 winners at K-Park.
Now a trip to Airdrie’s Excelsior Stadium awaits this Saturday and Kennedy insists he will be taking nothing for granted, despite having beaten the young Hoops in their two previous meetings this season.
Table-topping Kilby are four points clear of second place Cumbernauld Colts with two games in hand going into the match, and Kennedy doesn’t want another slip-up to give their rivals any encouragement.
He said: “Some of our toughest games this season will be against Celtic B and Hearts B.
“They are both so quick on the transition.
“Hearts caused us lots of problems the other week there and Celtic have made it difficult for us in the last two games against them, even though we have won both of them so far [3-1 in the SPFL Trust Trophy and 2-1 in the league].
“They have all been close encounters and I think it will be a really difficult game for us.
“We are quite expansive in our play so when we lose the ball, we can be quite open. When you are playing the B teams with their sheer energy and legs, they capitalise on it better than other teams in the league.
“That is the danger and Hearts capitalised on it against us.
“In the games against Celtic, there were chances they created that they’ll feel they really should have taken.
“I am really surprised by where Celtic are in the league [ninth] because they have been excellent every time I’ve seen them this season, so we will need to be on our game.”
Kilby had to come from 2-0 down at the weekend to beat Gala Fairydean Rovers and now head into a hectic run of fixtures over the Christmas period with four games in a fortnight.
Kennedy added: “We’ve got a really demanding schedule coming up and there’s a lot to play for.
“The festive period is a really challenging time for all the teams and by the time you get to January it can tell you a lot about how the season is going to pan out.”
Kick-off at the Excelsior Stadium is 3pm.