Tony Mowbray flew out to Moscow last night with his head full of positive thoughts after watching his Celtic side crush Al-Ahly 5-0 in their opening match at the Wembley Cup.
Celtic 5 - Al-Ahly 0
Scorers: Donati (31), McDonald (39pen, 58), Maloney (49), Killen (83)
Tony Mowbray flew out to Moscow last night with his head full of positive thoughts after watching his Celtic side crush Al-Ahly 5-0 in their opening match at the Wembley Cup.
The manager will take in a match between Wednesday's Champions League qualifying opponents Dynamo Moscow and their local rivals Lokomotiv today before dashing back to prepare his men for tomorrow's final warm-up game against Spurs.
Doubtless, Mowbray's Russian hosts will be interested to hear about Celtic's readiness for the first-leg match. The Englishman will have good reason to deliver his opinion with a smile.
Mowbray admitted he had a moan at his strikers following their inability to find the target in Cardiff on Wednesday, and they responded immediately and in spades.
There were two goals from Scott McDonald, and strikes from Massimo Donati, Shaun Maloney and Chris Killen as Celtic put the Egyptian champions to the sword.
The real bonus for Mowbray, however, was another clean sheet, this time delivered by Artur Boruc without any help from Lukasz Zaluska, who has replaced him at half-time in the two previous pre-season games in Brisbane and Wales.
Mowbray knows just how important it will be to keep the Russians out in midweek, although he accepted that his defenders owed a debt to their keeper on this occasion.
He said: "From day one, Artur has been one of those boys who people keep telling me is this and he's that. But he has been sensational.
"I've stood on the sidelines watching him with my staff sometimes and think to myself, We have got a real goalkeeper here'. His agility for his size is remarkable and he is a remarkable goalkeeper, really - a great personality and I'm delighted he is here.
"Every team in the world needs a good goalkeeper because you can't dominate every match for 90 minutes. Teams are going to have chances, and Artur made a save or two in the first half and one or two outstanding saves in the second.
"We are sitting here talking about a 5-0 win and Artur gives the team confidence at important times. We got out of the match exactly what we wanted. We just want the players to work hard on possession and getting their fitness levels up."
Despite the scoreline, Mowbray acknowledged that his team had to graft to keep the Egyptians out, especially in the first half hour. They eventually took control, helped in no small measure by the influence on proceedings of Donati.
The enigmatic Italian scored the first goal, ran the midfield and reminded everyone why he was once a £10m player. Donati was also involved at the start of the second, well-fashioned goal which saw McDonald get off the mark when converting a penalty he had won himself. Maloney made it 3-0 and McDonald added another to ensure there was no way back for all-at-sea Al-Ahly. Killen rounded things off with a fifth goal eight minutes from time.
McDonald's double brought relief to the striker and his manager. The Australian frontman looked out of sorts in the previous two games, and it was important to him and his team that he found his form before next week.
A raft of substitutions confirmed that Mowbray was content with the night's work, although he would have been happier had Landry N'Guemo shown even a fraction of the enterprise he displayed on his debut in midweek.
Danny Fox was one of the men to come on with 17 minutes remaining, and the manager was pleased to see him get his debut out of the way. Mowbray said: "He was going to come on for us whatever the score. He just arrived at the hotel this morning, had a bit of a mix-up with his bag at the airport and it was a bit of a rush.
"But it's important to get that initial feeling for your team mates and what it's about to play for this club. It was important to get him on the field at some stage."
Interestingly, Fox did not replace Lee Naylor. Instead, he came on for Maloney in left midfield, and Mowbray will not rule out this position being an option in the future.
Neither is he pushing Naylor out of the door. The full-back's return ticket south looked sealed by the arrival of Fox, but Mowbray said: "I'm not thinking of getting rid of anybody, though I know down the line we will lose somebody.
"Lee Naylor has, in my opinion, been as good as anyone in the three games we've had, but I'm also aware of negativity towards Lee from certain elements.
"He is in the last year of his contract and it's a case of let's wait and see. Common sense suggests this has got to be a very good year for him because his contract is running out, and I'm sure he would be hoping to have suitors from very good sides.
"The only way he is going to attract them is by doing it week in and week out. But there is also a business element when players run into the last year of their contract.
"If people make bids for footballers then you have to listen to them. You're talking about situations that might never happen. Manchester City might offer us £25m for him tomorrow and we would have to consider it.
"At the moment he is a top performer for us and doing very well. Danny Fox is there to provide some competition on the left side of the field, but it doesn't have to be at left-back because of his delivery into the box."
