CAMMY KERR is nothing if not honest. And once the Dundee defender untangled his legs following Sunday’s brutal examination at the hands of Celtic winger Jota, he was candid enough to hold up his hands and explain just how challenging a test it had been.
His insight into the mental and physical challenges posed by his direct opponent and the Celtic front three as a whole reveal the dilemmas running through his head as he attempted to somehow stem the tide of attacks down his side. Does he give Jota a yard? Does he go touch-tight and try to get a foot in?
Having had some joy in the first half adopting the former approach, his confidence grew to the point he was ready to take the more aggressive tack after the interval. And just like that, he had been sucked in.
Before he knew it, Jota had crept in on the inside of him to hit Celtic’s third and played a central role in an incisive move that ended with the Portuguese teeing up Kyogo for a devastating fourth. Game over.
“It was a tough day,” Kerr said. “The boys showed good character to stay in the game, but I probably look at myself. Second half, first five minutes, that’s probably on me.
“My game is to stop their attackers and I didn’t do it. So I will take the blame for that.
“Don’t get me wrong, what a side they are. They are a good side. But you pride yourself on your defensive displays against those teams one-on-one.
“To be fair, in the first-half, I felt I dealt with it quite well. But that’s the quality they have. Two instances in the first five minutes of the second half and they punish you.
“After that, I probably got too attracted to the ball and that’s what they do. They suck you in and then punish you more. I’m just trying to be brutally honest.
“They are top quality players and the way they move the ball for the whole 90 minutes is great.
“It’s a wee learning curve for me. I always try to look at my game straight away and I think that’s probably where I went wrong.
“First half, I let him have it and started to go off the one-twos and match him for pace with that. But once I had won it a few times, I maybe thought: Right I’ll go tighter. And that’s when they show their quality and they can knock it around you.
“It’s a lesson I will take for myself.”
Given Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou’s adherence to his footballing philosophy, the riddle in facing his team doesn’t come from deducing what they are going to try to do, but knowing what they are going to do and finding a way to stop it in any case.
“I wouldn’t say it is unpredictable,” said Kerr. “We know what they are going to. They have good players in the wide areas and they look to play one-twos in behind you.
“It’s all about matching their movements, but I’d say it is relentless in the way they play in the fact that it is non-stop attack.
“No matter if we go at them, they will still come back. As I go back to, they are a good side.”
The positive for Kerr and his Dundee side is that they won’t be facing teams with the calibre of attacking player that Celtic have at their disposal every week, though it doesn’t make it any easier for Kerr to accept Sunday’s defeat, particularly as they are now left to reflect on having the worst defensive record in the Premiership during this latest international break.
James McPake’s men have now conceded 27 goals in 13 games this season, though in fairness, 10 of those have come in just two games against Celtic.
What provides encouragement though is the two goals they managed themselves at the weekend, and also their ability to respond from the various set-backs that have plagued their season to date.
“That game against Celtic will not define our season, but I’m not one to just accept that it’s a free hit,” he said.
“We want to go and impose ourselves. We almost showed it in the Rangers game maybe a month or so ago when we could have got something from the game.
“We had the same belief on Sunday, but it wasn’t to be.
“Like I said, the boys really dug in. We could have gone under when we went 2-0 down and then 4-1 down again. But we showed a wee bit of resilience to score our two goals and at least fight back in the game, which is what we do every week anyway, so you can’t fault the boys for that.
“We have been questioned a few times I think with the character, like after we got beaten by Ross County and we bounced back with a great result against St Mirren.
“It’s about showing that again going forward. We have a wee break now, so it’s important that we rest up and also work on the things that we need to do going forward.”
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