Celtic take on Motherwell in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden on Saturday afternoon looking to end the season on a high after losing out on the SPL title. Can they do it or will it be the year for the underdogs to prevail? (Celtic 4/11 to win in 90 minutes).
The Bhoys have endured a difficult season both on and off the pitch, with defeat to Rangers in the the Co-operative Insurance Cup final and losing out to their Old Firm rivals by one point in the race for the league title.
There have also been death threats to manager Neil Lennon to contend with, as bullets and parcel bombs were intercepted while en route to the Northern Irishman.
Add in the four-match touchline ban that the boss received for his altercation with Rangers assistant Ally McCoist and it is clear that the Glasgow giants could do with an end-of-season boost to go into the off-season in good spirits.
They are strong favourites to lift the trophy on Saturday afternoon and are a short price to beat Stuart McCall’s men either in 90 minutes, in extra time or by penalties (Celtic 1/4 to win Scottish Cup).
If recent form is anything to go on then Celtic have every reason to be full of confidence, having beaten Well 4-0 in the final match of the season last weekend, but form tends to go out of the window in cup finals and the Steelmen are not without hope.
They did pull off a 2-0 victory over Lennon’s side at Fir Park back in February, with a John Sutton brace good enough to take the points, and the goal-scorer on that occasion has already pointed to the importance of getting an early goal against the Hoops.
The Celts possess better footballers and will doubtless try to dictate the game if they take the lead and so the first goal will be crucial in determining the destination of the trophy.
Well only drew seven SPL games all season and appear and ‘all or nothing’ side, capable of upsetting the best or being blown away, with a 3-3 draw against Hearts prior to a 5-0 defeat to Rangers and a 4-0 reverse to Dundee United towards the end of the campaign emphasising the point.
McCall has no injury worries ahead of the final and Darren Randolph is expected to return in goal having missed the league game at Parkhead, with Steve Jennings and Maurice Ross also in contention to feature.
Lennon will be without winger Shaun Maloney, who has a calf strain, but Kris Commons is back after serving a suspension and Anthony Stokes will be considered having been dropped for the final league match for disciplinary reasons.
In truth, Celtic should beat Motherwell comfortably but it has been an odd season for the Glasgow outfit and they could be in for a tough encounter against a Motherwell side who have nothing to lose and who are all “fully focused” on the job, according to McCall.
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