Ross County club captain Keith Watson confident Staggies can spring a surprise against Celtic in Dingwall, but they may need to ride their luck against the Glasgow giants in the Premier Sports Cup
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Ross County club captain Keith Watson has admitted the Staggies will need to ride their luck to knock Celtic out of the Premier Sports Cup tonight – but he is confident they can hurt the Glasgow giants too.
Celtic come up to Dingwall in imperious form, having just put nine goals past Dundee United at Tannadice in a result that ultimately brought Jack Ross' time at the club to a close.
Watson could only sympathise with former club United while watching it unfold last Sunday.
So with the scoring threats Celtic have in their ranks, he knows that it is inevitable County will face similar pressure at the back tonight.
“Celtic and Rangers are both Champions League sides this season, so you need to ride your luck at times," he said.
“Celtic are on top form. To win 9–0 at Tannadice, usually a tough place to go, is quite something. They have loads of chances in a game and, if they are clinical, results like that can happen.
“We just need to make sure on Wednesday that we’re solid as a team, communicating as move around the park, helping each other.
“They have good players but we’ve faced them before and done well. We’ve had them worried with 10 minutes to go, needing a goal.
“We definitely fancy our chances up here, and it's a cup game so we want to get through. It is going to be a tough game – they're a very good side – but we fancy our chances of causing an upset.”
Taking the game to Celtic
Although lots of attention will understandably be on how County play at the back after the weekend's results, the Staggies also know they are capable of posing problems at the other end of the pitch.
They are the only side to score against Celtic in domestic action so far this season, and they have battled well against the Glasgow giants over recent seasons – including knocking them out of the League Cup at Parkhead two years ago.
Just two weeks ago, County came within minutes of a result in Dingwall, so Watson says they have every reason to be optimistic tonight.
“We always seem to do reasonably well against the Old Firm up here," he reasoned.
“We’ve learned how we can frustrate them. Their movement is really good and they invert their full-backs.
“Their wingers stay wide and wait for the ball, but from meetings we have we have all the information we need going into games to frustrate them and we know exactly how we can hurt them as well.
“We'll have to be disciplined with a good shape as we won’t have a lot of the ball. We’ll wait for that right moment to catch them, on the counter-attack, or at a set piece where we can put it into an area where our big boys can go and attacking it.
“We definitely have good pace in a lot of the lads we've brought in this summer – we see it in training every day – and we’re a big threat from set plays.
"We've scored against them this season as well, so we'll take a bit of confidence from that. We know on our day, especially up here on a Wednesday night in the cup, we can definitely go and cause Celtic problems.”
Changing role in Dingwall
Watson saw his role at the club tweaked slightly in the summer, with the defender being named club captain while Jack Baldwin was named team captain.
That seemed to imply that Watson may not feature as often this season as he has in previous years, and he only got his first league start of the season last weekend at Rangers in the absence of Baldwin and Connor Randall.
“I’ve been here the longest, with a lot of good experiences, and I’m hoping to continue that," Watson insisted.
“Do I want to be playing more often? Any player would tell you that. Nobody wants to be in the background – you want to be playing games and that never changes.
“I’ve had chats with the gaffer and been in his office a few times. He reassures me I’m well in his plans and I know I will get gametime if I keep doing what I’m doing.
“I’m a good lad about the place and train well every day, so my chance will come.
“I always come in with a smile on my face, train hard and get about the boys, but again, I’m a footballer and want to be playing, so we’ll see how that goes.
“It's tough. He can only pick 11 players out of a squad of 20. At the end of the day, it is his decision and boys are going to be disappointed, but it is about supporting your team-mates and being ready to go.”
