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Scottish Premiership | Gameweek 27
Feb 24, 2019 at 3pm UK
 
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4-1

Sinclair (31'), Edouard (37', 88'), Burke (91')
FT(HT: 2-0)
Ariyibi (51')

Robinson believes his players can cause problems for Celtic

Robinson believes his players can cause problems for Celtic
© Reuters
The Motherwell manager takes his team to Parkhead in search of a seventh consecutive league victory.

Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson believes his new-look team are more equipped to cause the Celtic defence problems at Parkhead.

Both Robinson's side and the Ladbrokes Premiership leaders are going for a seventh consecutive league victory when they meet on Sunday.

The Steelmen lost 3-0 at Celtic Park on December 19 and a much-changed team rarely troubled their hosts during a first half when they conceded three goals.

But they have a new shape to them with wingers Jake Hastie and Gboly Ariyibi adding pace and directness to their play, with Elliott Frear providing good support from the bench in recent weeks.

Robinson admits they will need to focus on keeping Celtic out in the build-up to Sunday's game but he wants to maintain his side's goal threat.

"You take each game individually," he said.

"The last time I changed it, I brought experienced players in. I didn't make wholesale changes as a shadow squad, I put experienced players in, probably more experienced than the boys I left out that night and Celtic were too good for us that night.

"But I think we are a different proposition now. We have got a more attacking threat. We have players who can hit Celtic on the break, which I didn't feel we had before.

"Make no mistake, Celtic will have a lot of the ball, they always do. They will dominate possession. But it's what we do when we land on the ball.

"Perhaps that's my biggest regret from the last game. Yes, we were organised to an extent, defensively we were OK, we switched off for the goals individually, but when we landed on the ball we didn't have the bravery, we didn't have the belief, we maybe didn't have the pace and quality at that stage either. I believe we do now when we land on it.

"So that's the important factor. Being organised is one thing, being disciplined is one thing, but being able to hit teams on the break and being able to hit those decisive passes, I believe we have got the players in the team that can do that."

Motherwell have not won seven consecutive top-flight games since 1933, the year after they won their only Scottish title.

"If you can't go in confident now you never can," Robinson said.

"We go in with a game plan, we will go in confident.

"We are well aware Celtic are a top, top side, they are eight points clear, so we have to be at the top of our game and produce the form we have produced in the last few weeks."

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Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson pictured in April 2018
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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Celtic1514104444043
2Aberdeen16104230181234
3RangersRangers1510232791832
4Motherwell168172226-425
5Dundee UnitedDundee Utd166642519624
6St Mirren176382228-621
7Dundee165472729-219
8Kilmarnock174581834-1617
9Hibernian173682129-815
10Ross County173681333-2015
11St Johnstone1742112032-1214
12Hearts1734101826-813


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