Fri Mar 14 14:01:48 2008

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Celtic must bounce back to stay in title race

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Glasgow, Scotland (Sports Network) - Celtic is almost in a must-win situation ahead of the team's home contest with Motherwell on Saturday after the club was held to a 0-0 draw by Dundee United on Wednesday.

The result left Celtic three points back of league-leaders Rangers, and although that is not a big gap to make up over the remainder of the season, it is looking as though the Hoops cannot afford to drop many more points if they are going to capture their third-straight league title.

Although a win on Saturday would move Celtic level on points with Rangers and actually in front based on goal differential, Celtic will have played two more games than its Glasgow rivals, which would still leave the advantage with Rangers.

Walter Smith's Rangers side has been in absolutely sizzling form in recent months in the league. The club is unbeaten in its last 16 games in the SPL and last tasted defeat to Dundee United at the end of October.

This run of play has left Celtic little room for error, which made Wednesday's draw all the more disappointing.

"It was frustrating because we made enough chances to win and it's a blow that the lads are bitterly disappointed about," Celtic captain Stephen McManus told the club's website. "But the one thing you can't do is let it affect you for the next game. You have to get straight back on the wagon and put in a good performance at the weekend."

Fourth-place Motherwell is coming off of a 1-0 defeat to Hibernian on Wednesday that left them level on 46 points with Dundee United as the teams battle for third place.

While the title is far out of reach for Motherwell at this point in the season, they are very much in the running for a place in Europe, which would be a big accomplishment.

However, they will be going up against a desperate Celtic side that cannot afford to drop many more points, something that McManus is well aware of.

"Every game is a must-win and we will keep fighting and it won't be hard to bounce back this Saturday," McManus said. "The game at the weekend is going to be tough but all games are tough at this stage of the season. One thing is for sure, we certainly believe in ourselves and we will keep fighting. We certainly believe in ourselves and one another. We'll be fine, but you have to drive everyone on."

Hibernian is three points out of third place and hosts Kilmarnock on Saturday, while Hearts travels to St Mirren, Inverness entertains Falkirk Aberdeen plays host to Gretna.