Adam Matthews: Celtic’s bottle won’t crash in big game

EVEN putting aside its potentially historic significance owing to the uncertainties facing Rangers, Sunday’s final Glasgow derby is a strange beast. Hosts Celtic may be champions and the encounter may provide them with the opportunity to move a mere 21 points in front of their administration-stricken rivals. Yet they are also the team with something to prove.

Neil Lennon’s side have endured some hefty dunts these past six weeks. Hopes of turning their title into a treble, then double, were ended in the League Cup final and Scottish Cup semi-final. These hellish Hampden days were sandwiched by an equally sour slaying that put paid to their supporters’ dream of clinching the league at Ibrox. Cue the old chestnut being dusted down about Celtic proving vulnerable on the major occasion – which would be given a gleaming polish were Rangers to rack up a third win of the season over their ancient adversaries.

Adam Matthews, yesterday promoting the club’s new home kit for next season, believes any consideration of the entire season ought to cut short questioning of Celtic’s temperament, though. “When we were 15 points behind every game we played was a pressure game,” he said. “So people can’t say we bottle it in big games as we’ve shown this season that we can fight and show character. That’s not a fair thing to say. When we were on our winning run we beat Rangers at the end of the year so that shows we can win the big games. That was a turning point of our season as that put us ahead of them.

“Maybe we’ve not had the credit we deserve this season. The run we went on was exceptional no matter what league you play in and to win the league from being 15 points behind is a brilliant achievement. We deserve great credit for that.”

Credit is reserved because of Rangers’ slide into administration and consequent ten-point deduction in February. But the contention of Matthews that Celtic’s form this season was exceptional is supported by two facts. Their run of 20 consecutive domestic victories is the longest in the country across the entire post-war period. In those 67 years of Scottish football only once – Celtic in 2004 – has any team surpassed the 17 top flight wins that were the bedrock of their remarkable wintertime sequence.

Yet, without at least a share of the points in the derby fixture, Celtic might be accused of being little more than flat-track bullies. “In the games at Ibrox this evening we haven’t done ourselves justice and we hope on Sunday we can put that right and get the three points,” Matthews said. “In the last game at Ibrox the two sending offs didn’t help us but even with nine men we still put up a good fight and were unlucky in the end. We didn’t just lie down and let Rangers walk over us. We showed great character.

“Every Rangers game is massive but everyone is saying this one is the biggest one in years. It’s certainly the biggest game left this season for our supporters so it will be the one they want to win the most. The players want to win it just as much as them.”

Matthews is so sober and unassuming, it is hard to imagine the 21-year-old from Cardiff City being fazed or fired up by anything he encounters on his football beat. But the right-back admits the Glasgow derby forces him to shed his placid nature.

“You try to think of it as just a normal game but it’s hard. You get more nervous as it’s the biggest game of the season and you think about it all week. You can’t be a shy person in an Old Firm game. You’ve got to step up and be counted. The adrenaline is flowing when you get out there as the fans are amazing in these games. Before every big game every manager always says to play the game, not the occasion, but it’s hard sometimes to just focus on the game. But the team who does that better will win on the day. I knew the Old Firm games were a big deal before I came up but I didn’t think the atmosphere would be as good as it is. It’s the best one I’ve ever played in. I hope I can play in many more.”

The most passionate person in the Celtic set-up won’t be in his usual position on Sunday, with Lennon completing a two-match ban and therefore denied the chance to set the touchline tempo for his team. “It will be a blow not seeing him, although often in an Old Firm game you can’t hear anything anyway,” Matthews said. “We’ll miss his passion and input but we’re just focusing on the job we have to do.”

With a tinderbox environment enclosing the fixture once more, players apart, there may be little focus on the football alone.