Gordon Strachan has confirmed that Aiden McGeady will be available for selection against Dundee United this afternoon. The Celtic winger was suspended from training for two weeks and fined after a clash with the Celtic manager.
Martin Greig and Graeme Macpherson
Gordon Strachan has confirmed that Aiden McGeady will be available for selection against Dundee United this afternoon.
The Celtic winger was suspended from training for two weeks and fined after a clash with the Celtic manager following the 1-1 draw with Hearts last month. However, Strachan insisted that no-one will be ruled out for the visit of the Tannadice side.
"Everybody who is fit is available," he said. "Aiden has trained since Tuesday. He is looking fine, they are all looking good."
Strachan refused to comment on speculation linking the club with a move for Semir Stilic, the Bosnian internationalist this month, but conceded that there may be "a little activity" in this month's transfer window.
"I think we're open to something happening but I don't think there will be anything spectacular," he said. "It's a lot of loans at this time of the year. Looking back, I think we have done alright at this time of the year. We got Roy Keane, Paul Hartley and Barry Robson last year, who helped us to achieve what we wanted."
Portsmouth have also been linked with a £9m move for Scott Brown, but Strachan insisted there is no pressure on Celtic to move on any players.
"We don't need to be a selling club that's for sure. For a supporter it must be great to know your club is solvent. There are clubs in England who are really sweating just now."
Today, Celtic must find a way past Lukasz Zaluska, the Dundee United goalkeeper signed on a pre-contract agreement. Strachan does not expect the Pole to be affected by the occasion. "I remember Celtic playing against Gary Caldwell then at Hibs when he did the same thing and he was excellent. We also know that top players give nothing less than their best. You don't get to this level without that."
Unlike Celtic, Rangers are keen to shed several fringe players from their wage bill and Alan Gow is expected to become the second player to leave the club during the transfer window as his proposed move to Wolverhampton Wanderers neared completion last night.
The midfielder, who spent the first half of the season on loan at Blackpool, should complete a £250,000 transfer to the Coca-Cola Championship leaders over the weekend. Gow follows Jean-Claude Darcheville out of Ibrox after the striker signed for French side Valenciennes last month.
Walter Smith, the Rangers manager, confirmed that his main priority this month would be to trim his 28-strong playing squad but added that he would be reluctant to lose key players as Newcastle United weigh up moves for both Madjid Bougherra and Barry Ferguson.
"We've got 28 players and a whole group of players that I don't want to transfer," Smith said. "But we have a number of boys on the outside who haven't been featuring in the team and it doesn't take rocket science to work out who they are. A lot of them have been asking me to allow them to leave on loan so that's the group I'm looking to adjust. I need to offload a few of them and then after that we could possibly bring in a player or two if we find ones that we think will help us."
