Elfsborg were last night continuing to play hardball over their decision to field on-loan Mo Bangura in Wednesday's Champions League tie against Celtic despite the Glasgow club's repeated request that their striker be left out.
Jorgen Lennartsson, the Elfsborg manager, cited the precedent of Fernando Morientes scoring for Monaco against his parent club Real Madrid in both legs of their Champions League quarter-final in 2004, a tie the French side won, and believed Bangura – who made the temporary switch to the Swedish champions at the start of the year – would rise to the challenge if selected for the first leg at Celtic Park.
There are no UEFA guidelines prohibiting loan players from playing against their parent club but Celtic felt a gentleman's agreement could be reached that would see Bangura remain on the sidelines for the duration of the tie. Elfsborg, however, see it differently.
"This is a situation where Celtic are doing what they think will give them the best chance to win," said Lennartson. "We make decisions that benefit us. Celtic's role in this is to send signals that give them the best chance to win. There is 200m Swedish Krona [£20m] at stake for them. But we do what we think is best for Elfsborg because there is nothing in Bangura's contract that says that he can't play matches.
"Of course [Bangura] wants to show how good he is. It is rather an inspiration and a challenge to show what he can do for Elfsborg at Celtic Park."
The player himself admitted to being caught on the horns of a dilemma. "It is difficult for me," said the striker. "I am a Celtic player at the same time as I am an Elfsborg player. I don't know if I want to play the game. There are still a few days to go. I will do some thinking."
Lennon took in Elfsborg's 1-1 draw with Atvidaberg on Saturday, in which Bangura missed a penalty, and insisted Celtic's stance has not changed. "He is our player and is going back to Celtic," said the manager. "So it is quite logical that he should not play against us. Actually, I don't want to put more pressure on him, but Elfsborg should understand that it is a tough situation for him and not let him play.
"We bought him for a great deal of money and know how dangerous he can be. It took time for him to get into the team at Celtic, he needed more playing time and confidence and he seems to have got that now. So if he plays on Wednesday, he is definitely a threat."
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