Fresh from a convincing 2-0 win over Kaizer Chiefs in midweek, SuperSport will be looking for their third consecutive league win and will have thoughts of perhaps taking their points lead into double figures by the end of the weekend.
There is a slight problem for United coach Gavin Hunt, which could be the number of injuries his team are nursing and he added Siyabonga Nkosi to that list, as the midfielder went off injured during the game against Chiefs.
United midfielder Brent Carelse, who played the entire match against Chiefs despite not being 100 percent, feels that his team are on the right track towards successfully defending their league championship.
“It was important for us to keep our consistency of winning going and we managed to do that for the last two matches. It suits us that that the game against Celtic is so soon after the Chiefs game. The more regularly you play, the better rhythm the team develops,’ said Carelse.
“I am still nursing an injury, despite that I am happy to have played the full game against Chiefs even though I was still feeling some pain in my hamstring.”
Carelse, who will play an important role for SuperSport in midfield on Saturday, does not want his to slip up against Celtic as the three points they could gain from the match will be highly beneficial towards them winning a third championship.
“Celtic are tough team and they have quick players. If you ask most of the guys on the team they will tell you that it is easier to play Chiefs or Pirates instead of teams like Celtic, who are more of a closed book. It will be a tougher game for us but winning will feel better than when we beat Chiefs because it could put us on a course for third title. The three points could help us build a ten point lead on the teams following us.”
After their 3-1 loss to Orlando Pirates earlier in November, Celtic have improved, particularly in defence, and have better marshalled their backline which saw them win three points against Free State Stars and then pull off a 1-1 draw against Santos. A match which Celtic defender Moketi Tsotetsi believes they should have won.
“We know that against SuperSport if we get half the number of chances that we created against Santos it will be an achievement but I stress we need to turn them home,” said the defender.
Tsotetsi is aware of just how tough it can be to play against a team who are on top of the league and have the title within their sights: “They are playing the best football in the league. In addition they are a threat when attacking down the centre or from the wings. It is going to be a busy afternoon, I think that I will personally have my hands full in dealing with the aerial threat of Glen Salmon.”
According to Tsotetsi, SuperSport’s strength lies in the fact that whoever takes to the field for them can be as dangerous as the starting choice player. “Look at the kind of team they have: anyone who comes off the bench is just as competent as the player who started. Against Chiefs they replaced a fantastic player like Siyabonga Nkosi with Jabulani Maluleke and he came in and caused all the destruction setting up a goal and scoring another.”
