Gary Teale and St Mirren brace for Celtic backlash

The Paisley side face Celtic in the quarter-finals of the William Hill Scottish Cup just three days after Neil Lennon’s men lost to Motherwell at Fir Park. That 2-1 Clydesdale Bank Premier League defeat also came after Saints defeated Celtic in the semi-finals of the Scottish Communities League Cup final last month.

In that match, St Mirren secured a surprise 3-2 win over the Glasgow giants to bring to an end a run of eight successive defeats that had seen Celtic amass an aggregate score of 22-0. Now Teale, who returns to Danny Lennon’s squad after missing three games with an abductor tear, believes Celtic will be fired up after those disappointments.

However, following their convincing 2-0 SPL success against Hearts in midweek, the 34-year-old says Saints fancy their chances. The former Scotland international said: “The worst thing that could have happened for us was Celtic’s defeat to Motherwell.

“They will be even more up for it now, especially after that semi-final defeat too. But we can only concentrate on ourselves.

“We will take confidence from that result at Hampden. Celtic are a fantastic side and nine times out of ten, they will be expected to beat us, as their record shows. But we can take confidence from that last game and from the Hearts win as well.

“We will go in believing we can win again.”