KIERAN TIERNEY has urged his Celtic team-mates to regain their focus in the wake of slipping up at Dundee and steel themselves for a battle royal for the Ladbrokes Premiership title.
The defending champions offered Aberdeen a passage back into the joust for the crown on Tuesday when drawing 0-0 at Dens Park.
Derek McInnes' side have the opportunity to cut the gap at the top to two points when they travel to Hearts on Friday night and Tierney knows Celtic will face a stern test at on-form Motherwell the following afternoon.
“We need to get our heads back and go and beat Motherwell on Saturday,” the teenager told Celtic TV. “That is our focus. Every game between now and the end of the season is going to be tough. We need to battle it out, go and play football and get the points. It is in our hands.
“We need to bounce back and go and win on Saturday.”
It could be a different defensive pairing that Tierney takes to the field with this weekend as Celtic face a few backline injury problems.
Erik Sviatchenko underwent a scan on a thigh problem yesterday while Mikael Lustig is being assessed after he felt a tightness in his achilles during the stalemate at Dens Park.
That could mean a defensive partnership of Charlie Mulgrew and Dedryck Boyata, with Efe Ambrose deputising for Lustig. However, Tierney is unfazed by any potential changes.
“You train with all the players every day, so I know them from training," he said. "Whoever comes in, we will communicate and do enough to get by."
Tierney has also admitted that it has been a whirlwind of a season for him since firmly establishing himself in Ronny Deila’s first-team squad.
It is almost a year since the defender made his competitive debut for the first team at Dundee last April and, since then, he has gone on to earn himself a full international call-up as well as make his name at Celtic.
“It is roughly a year since I made my debut, but it was disappointing because of the result,” he said. "I can never get my head around it. It has been crazy because it has been so fast with the games that I have been involved in.”
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