Celtic forward accuses Alloa of 'crossing the line' as injury woes mount
The Greek forward netted in the success, which set up a home tie with Raith Rovers next month, that came at a heavy cost for Ange Postecoglou’s men. Captain Callum McGregor was lost to a facial injury that looks set to sideline him for several weeks, while Yosuke Ideguchi and Liel Abada were forced off with knocks.
Giakoumakis stressed that while there was no deliberate tactic to strong-arm Celtic by the League One side, they lacked restraint in seeking to offset the quality differential between the teams. Meanwhile, the 27-year-old refused to discuss whether referee Don Robertson failed to offer Celtic players sufficient protection on the plastic pitch in Clackmannanshire.
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Hide Ad“The game against Alloa was out of the limit, it was too dangerous – the duels, the markings,” said the £2.5million summer signing from Dutch club VVV-Venlo. “We had to get through it and take the win and, if it was possible, to stay away from harm. We didn’t achieve that part.
“I can say that the opponent didn’t have the quality that we do. It’s normal with all the respect. They had to try to run more than us and be more aggressive in the duels.
“Sometimes they crossed the line and the markings were a little bit more tough. We should take care of ourselves too. I don’t want to speak about the referees. I will never speak about the referees. It’s our job in the lines and in the end we’re really happy that we won and we’re in the next round.”
Giakoumakis did not seek to downplay the significance of being without McGregor for the foreseeable future. He did, though, express confidence in Celtic possessing the personnel to cope with a seemingly never-ending series of injury setbacks, Postecoglou having assembled a 31-strong senior pool that suddenly appears anything but excessive.
“First of all I have to wish him [McGregor] the best of luck for a speedy recovery,” the Greek added. “He’s a leader for us. Maybe it’s something serious. We’ll miss him a lot, he’s a key player for us and I hope he will return as soon as possible. [But], yes, of course we have the depth in our team and our squad. Everyone can be in the first XI. That’s very important at a club that has big goals.”
