The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Ojamaa looks for hat-trick over Celtic
Striker hoping to repeat wins he enjoyed with Motherwell
Henrik Ojamaa wasn’t able to bask in the glory of helping Motherwell beat Celtic a few years ago, as he had to rush away for a flight back to Estonia.
If the striker is able to repeat the trick with Dundee tomorrow, another trip to the airport beckons. But this time he would have a bit more time to celebrate.
Ojamaa recalled: “At Motherwell we took six points off Celtic that season. But for the first win I couldn’t even do any post-match interviews because I had to fly straight to Estonia for an exam the next day. Nicky Law drove me straight to the airport and I just about made the plane.
“I didn’t cram on the flight. I was already prepared. I had to do an exam to finish some school stuff. I can’t remember what it was but I got good grades.
“I went over to England when I was young so I didn’t finish my college work in Estonia.
“I tried to finish it online years later and the school was very understanding and let me study at my own tempo.
“My qualifications may be useful for me in years to come. It’s good to have something outwith football, but I am not studying just now.
“I actually fly on Sunday night again because I am going away with the national team for games against Cyprus away in a qualifier then Croatia at home.
“But I will have more time this time around because it’s a lunchtime game.”
This Celtic team is on a different level to the ones Ojamaa beat four years ago with Motherwell. The fact they’ve yet to taste defeat in the league shows that, as does the possibility of the title being confirmed in mid-March if Aberdeen lose to Hearts today.
The on-loan Dark Blues forward doesn’t believe there would be any shame for Scottish football if nobody beat Brendan Rodgers’ men before the end of the season, but would love to be part of the team that shows it can be done.
“It wouldn’t be a negative if Celtic went the whole season unbeaten,” he said. “Arsenal went a Premier League season unbeaten and people didn’t question the quality of that league.
“Obviously Celtic are in a good spell just now and it’s credit to them for their consistency. That’s the most impressive thing. They are strong but we need to try to get something from the game and try to cause them problems.
“We can only control our own performance.
“It’s going to take a big group effort and we have to make sure that we use our qualities.
“I know that Celtic have been strong this season and they are a good team.
“But we have to be confident in our ability. We must believe we can create chances.
“The defensive side is also important. We need to be on top of our game and hope they have an off day,” he said.
“As a team and a group, we have a lot of strengths.
“We need to stick to the game plan that we have worked on and take belief from that.
“We will have belief going into the game.”
One of Dundee’s weapons is the little and large partnership that has worked well so far, albeit not at McDiarmid Park last weekend.
Ojamaa expected to enjoy playing alongside Marcus Haber when he arrived at the end of the January transfer window, and so it has proved.
“I think he can use his qualities against
Celtic and we have others who can create problems,” he said.
“It’s a good partnership. We complement each other well and we use each other’s strengths to create chances, but it will require a good team effort.”
Defeats to St Johnstone and Partick Thistle are fresh in the memory, but the victories over Rangers and Motherwell that preceded them shouldn’t be forgotten, Ojamaa stressed.
He said: “We did well against Rangers and showed a different side against Motherwell when we created a lot of chances.
“Against Celtic it’s going to be different again.
“If we get chances, and I believe we will, then we need to take them.
“This won’t be a game where we have six or seven clear chances to score.
“We need to be patient, wait for an opening and take them when that happens.
“We have to remember we only get three points for winning this game. Maybe if we beat Celtic, we should get five points, but we don’t.
“We are aware they are unbeaten but we need to look at it as a chance to get some points on the board.”