Celtic can go unbeaten for rest of season says Adam Matthews

CELTIC defender Adam Matthews believes the Parkhead team can extend their current unbeaten run right to the end of the season as they set their sights on winning the domestic treble.

Scottish Cup sponsors William Hill cut the odds on Neil Lennon’s men collecting all three domestic trophies to 5-4 yesterday, despite the quarter-final draw for the competition backed by the bookmakers providing holders Celtic with arguably the most difficult assignment possible away to 2010 winners Dundee United.

Remarkably, it is the 10th consecutive away draw Celtic have had in the Scottish Cup. Regardless of the testing trip to Tannadice, however, Celtic are firm 8-11 favourites to retain the trophy because of their outstanding current run of 15 consecutive victories in domestic matches.

They have already booked a League Cup final date against Kilmarnock at Hampden on 18 March and can re-open a four point lead over ailing champions Rangers at the top of the SPL if they win their game in hand against Hearts at Tynecastle tomorrow night.

Welsh international full-back Matthews, while appreciative of the potentially hazardous hurdles Celtic still have to overcome, is confident they can avoid defeat for the rest of the campaign.

“I think yes, definitely,” he said. “We are full of confidence and believe we can keep it going as long as possible. Hearts on Wednesday is going to be tough, but we are going into it full of confidence on the back of winning 15 games on the bounce.

“We are under pressure all the time anyway and Rangers are still a dangerous team who will be there at the end of the season in the league. We just have to focus on our own job and keep the run going.

“Dundee United are a good team and are coming off the back of a good win over Rangers on Sunday but we are on a good run and it makes you go into every game thinking you are going to win.

“We don’t fear anyone at the moment as we are the form team. The players are used to the away draws now and we are confident we can go to Tannadice and do a job.

“We have the players to progress to the next stage. If you look around our dressing room, we have two or three players for every position. I think we have improved a lot since our last domestic defeat at Tynecastle in October. We had a few new players at the start of the season but everybody has gelled and we are strong in every area of the pitch.

“Maybe it helped to go through what we went through at the start of the season. It has made us closer. The hardest time in football is when you are losing and we have stuck together really well through that.

“It was tough when we were going through that bad patch but we knew with the players in our squad we could claw it back. Maybe we didn’t think we could do it as quickly but we were always fairly confident we would do it by the end of the season.”

Motherwell, runners-up to Celtic in last year’s Scottish Cup final, were installed as 6-1 second favourites for the trophy after landing a home quarter-final against either Aberdeen or Queen of the South in yesterday’s draw.

“My hope was to avoid Celtic and get a home draw,” said Fir Park manager Stuart McCall. “In the quarter-finals, any game is going to be difficult and watching the highlights of the Aberdeen-Queen of the South game, it looked a fairly even game.

“Queens hit them on the break and Aberdeen scored from a set piece; they are a big, big side. We had a really tough game against them here and Craig [Brown] has improved them in recent weeks.”

The Edinburgh clubs Hibs and Hearts join Dundee United as 10-1 chances, although Hearts face a fifth-round replay at McDiarmid Park next Tuesday night, with the winner due to host either Ross County or St Mirren.

Hibs will travel to face First Division opposition in the shape of either Ayr United and Falkirk, whose fifth round tie at Somerset Park was postponed on Saturday and will now take place on 15 February.

Ayr manager Brian Reid, was refusing to look too far ahead and said: “It would be a bit disrespectful to look to Hibs at the moment because we have got a tough game against Falkirk, who are going really well and who are having a good season.

“They have some good young players and some good experience so that will be a tough game on its own.”

• William Hill Scottish Cup quarter-final draw

Hearts or St Johnstone v St Mirren or Ross County

Ayr United or Falkirk v Hibernian

Dundee United v Celtic

Motherwell v Aberdeen or Queen of the South

The quarter-final ties will be played over the weekend of 10 and 11 March, subject to live television scheduling.