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Match Day Team News & Starting 11

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30 October 2022

Celtic are in SPFL business today with a trip to the Tony Macaroni Arena in Livingston to take on Livvy.

Livingston at Almondvale has never been an easy game for Celtic, last season we got a win there to break a long period of no wins. In fact we have only won a total of five games out of 12 against the West Lothian side.

With Rangers winning yesterday, the gap at the top is back to one point, we don’t want to give them any encouragement before the league stops for the World Cup, so a win is a must.

Jota and Carl Starfelt are both back in training but it might be a risk to play them on the plastic patch at Livingston.

Livvy left Ibrox last weekend with a point after leading until injury time so should be in confident mood. They sit 8th in the table with 16 points, they have won 5, drawn 1 and lost 5. Their home record is 4 wins and 2 losses.

Ange spoke about the challenge ahead in his pre match presser. “It will be a tough game. It always is particularly at their place. Last year we went there early in the season and didn’t play well and we paid the price.

On our second trip there we performed a lot better and it was a strong performance and we got the result.

“They are a hard-working team and they are really hard to beat particularly at home. That is the challenge that is before us. Our form home and away in the league has been pretty consistent and our results certainly show that. We have got to try and play well and overcome them.”

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When asked on what Livingston bring to the game, Ange said, “I think it is a combination of things. They are a really hard-working side which makes them hard to overcome. I think they have similar traits to us in the respect that we are also hard-working as well. The game tends to be played physically or with the sheer work rate then they provide that.

“Particularly at home with the pitch as well it is something that they are more comfortable with. Those are the challenges that you have to overcome. What is more important is what we can do and what threats we can pose and the football we play. Within that context we know if we play well we will be hard to stop.”

Mick Kane hails from Glasgow. He has been hooked on Celtic since he went to his first game when he was 7. Celtic beat Hamilton 8-3 at Celtic Park on the 3rd of January 1987. His favourite player at the time, Brian McClair scored four goals.

He started going regular as a 16 year old when Celtic played at Hampden for the season, being a Southsider it meant a short train journey to get to Hampden. From then he has had a season ticket travelled around Europe for games as Celtic became the dominant force in Scottish football again. A nice change from growing up during Rangers run to 9 in a row.