Dundee boss Paul Hartley left Parkhead as impressed as everyone else after watching Celtic’s dramatic draw with Manchester City.
Hartley joined Rod Stewart, Noel Gallagher and almost 60,000 others inside Celtic Park on Wednesday night as the Hoops did themselves and Scottish football proud in what was a Champions League classic.
The 3-3 result ended Man City’s 10-match winning streak under new superstar coach Pep Guardiola and saw Celtic take the match to their English visitors in a way that seemed to catch the City slickers by surprise.
As the manager who is next up to face Brendan Rodgers’ boys, Hartley could have been excused watching some of their confident, high-tempo play through his fingers.
However, he insisted his players are relishing what will be a considerable challenge at Dens Park tomorrow lunchtime.
Asked what he thought about the match that has had everyone talking, Hartley replied: “I enjoyed it.
“It was an outstanding game of football.
“I thought Celtic were terrific to play the way they did against a side like Man City.
“It was all about how they wanted to press them and, to be fair, not many teams have done that to City this season.
“That was their intention right from the off and Celtic did it high up the pitch, and had energy levels to go with it as well.
“They gave it everything and had a go, forcing City into making mistakes.
“So we are about to play an outstanding team – no doubt about that.
“Even if they do make four or five changes, which I think they will do, the players who will come in will be quality all over the pitch.
“We have to go and show on Saturday that we can make things difficult for them.
“We are pitting our wits against a very good team but I think you have to look forward to the challenge and we are.”
Hartley insisted his players can bounce back from the 3-1 defeat up at Inverness that merely served to highlight a slow start to the season.
He added: “For our players, it’s a good one.
“We will be written off and nobody will expect too much from us.
“But I still expect a lot from my team.
“We will try and perform to the best of our ability and aim to stop Celtic from playing.
“When we get the ball, we have to make sure we use it properly in the final third.
“We can’t sit back and wait for things to happen.
“We’ve got to be comfortable in possession and not give the ball away.
“If we do give it away then we will be in for a long afternoon.”
There was bad news on the injury front, with Tom Hateley missing the game with a groin problem.
Indeed, the former Motherwell man will be out for action for 10 days, while on-loan Hoops player Michael Duffy can’t face his parent club.
Hartley confirmed: “Tom had a scan on his groin and we just got the results back the other day.
“He is going to be out for 10 days.
“However, we have Kevin Gomis and Mark O’Hara coming back from suspension.
“They are both key players who were missed last week up in Inverness.
“Michael can’t play as he’s ineligible but we have a strong enough squad to go and compete on Saturday.”
Meanwhile, Utilita Energy is the new official energy partner of the Dark Blues and for every Dundee fan who switches to that company the club will receive £25 towards its youth development programme.
Also, every supporter can also receive a free smart meter and Dundee-branded cover for their in-home display.
