Kettlewell: Motherwell 'can have a go' at league leaders Celtic

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell says his team will “have a go” at Celtic when they host the league leaders this weekend.

But he has warned against going too gung-ho and insists it would be “incredibly naïve” to be completely open and expansive against a team with the quality Brendan Rodgers has at his disposal.

The Steelmen take on the Premiership champions at Fir Park on Sunday, looking to keep up their good start to the league season.

Kettlewell’s side are currently sitting fifth after the first eight games and a win against Celtic could put them joint on points with third-placed Rangers.

Speaking on Friday, he defended Motherwell’s recent performances against the Hoops. He said: “When you look at the calibre of the opposition and the gulf at times between both clubs, I think we have always been incredibly competitive.

“We managed to pick up a couple of draws at Celtic Park in the last two visits and I think we were done here last season by a couple of late goals in really competitive games where we created a number of chances and were well in the mix and in both games injury time goals were our undoing.

“So it has been pretty competitive and it has been close, we have let Celtic know they are in a game of football, that doesn’t guarantee how this game is going to go.

“I just think there has to be a balance to what you do, you have to carry a threat, there is no doubt about that, there are times when you can be starved of the ball.

“The first place you have to start is having defensive stability, which I think we have had a lot of against Celtic, and I thought Celtic were fantastic on that in Atalanta the other night, they were excellent playing against a team who are, in my opinion, one of Europe’s top sides.

“It will be a different game on Sunday. Celtic have threats all over the pitch, and we will need to prepare for that.

“I believe we can have a go against Celtic, absolutely. I have been fortunate enough as a manager to have picked up some results against Celtic, and there are different ways of doing it.

“You can have a go in stages of the game, you’re going to have to play out certain moments of the game, I firmly believe that a team with Celtic’s quality probably want us to be as open and expansive as we possibly can be.

“Because they trust their quality and they trust the multi-million players and international players that they have to outplay us, so we will have to ward against that at times.

“It’s about getting the balance right, not just for the 90 minutes but for 10-15 minute spells in the game, so I think it would be incredibly naïve to say we are going to play in our most attacking way for the whole game.”