CONOR SAMMON hopes Kilmarnock can be the side to hand a first domestic defeat of the season to Celtic tomorrow on the back of their morale-boosting draw with Rangers. Brendan Rodgers’ side were held to a 1-1 draw with Partick Thistle on Wednesday night but remain unbeaten after 38 league and cup matches. Sammon hopes Kilmarnock can be the team to end that run.
“Celtic drew the other night with Partick Thistle so there’s still that great opportunity there [to be the first to beat them],” said the Irishman. “They have been outstanding this season so credit to them for that but we’ll definitely use that as motivation to go there and try to cause an upset.
“I don’t think they’ll switch off now they’ve won the title. The type of manager they’ve got in Brendan Rodgers and the standards he sets I’m sure they’ll be gunning for it as before. They’ve got that unbeaten record in their sights so I’m sure that will be spurring them on. But on the flip side we’re still trying to get as many points as we can and cause others problems as well.”
Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha sprung a surprise when he named his side to face Kilmarnock on Wednesday night 30 hours before kick-off. Sammon thought that was “a little bit disrespectful” and felt it worked in his side’s advantage.
“It was a bit of a strange one and I don’t really understand the whole meaning behind it. I don’t know if he [Caixinha] was trying to highlight the fact they had a few injuries. But we could use that as extra motivation as it’s a little bit disrespectful I think. That just fuelled us even more to go out and do the business on the park. And I thought we did that.
“Usually you do your work on the training field and keep your tactics to yourself. So you tend to keep these things private. You don’t give the opposition that time to prepare. Usually it’s the last minute that you’re looking at their line-up and seeing how they are going to play. I don’t know what he was trying to gain or achieve by naming the team early.”
A top six place remains an outside possibility for Lee McCulloch’s side, who could also yet be drawn into the fight to avoid relegation. Sammon, on-loan from Hearts, believes there is enough belief in the squad to avoid that latter prospect.
“We’ve got a great team spirit, togetherness and work ethic,” he added. “That comes from the manager, his assistant and all the coaching staff. Everyone is buying into that. We’re all working hard on the pitch. We make mistakes but we’re all clubbing together to rectify them when we do that.”
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