Bhoys bank on Marshall

MARTIN O'NEILL last night gave rookie goalkeeper David Marshall a huge vote of confidence on the eve of the biggest night of his life.

The 19-year-old faces the daunting prospect of trying to silence a hostile 90,000-plus Nou Camp crowd and keep Ronaldinho and his Barcelona team-mates quiet.

But the Celtic manager will be hoping the teenager is as relaxed as he was as he laughed and joked at last night's pre-match press conference.

"I think David would prefer not to be here," quipped O'Neill.

"He's looking forward to it immensely and he realises that he has a great chance of playing. I think he personally phoned UEFA up a couple of days ago to say they definitely made the right decision and that Rab should be suspended for longer. He's looking forward to the game. He's quiet and unassuming and the games he's played so far he has shown a certain maturity.

"I hope they're not my famous last words. He is looking forward to the game and I have plenty of confidence in him."

It was hardly surprising O'Neill was smiling as he revealed Chris Sutton, Alan Thompson and Stanislav Varga were winning their race to be fit. All three have encouraged him training after being hit by ankle, hamstring and hip problems respectively.

But O'Neill looks set to take a gamble and throw in his big three for the UEFA Cup fourth-round second-leg showdown with the Catalan giants.

Barcelona coach Frank Rijkard insisted his team would be prepared for a spot-kick lottery. But his opposite number was not as convinced about his own side and certainly would not be putting his money on his own players.

"It's amazing how many players are queuing up to take penalties in training," said O'Neill. "But when it comes down to the real thing, the numbers substantially drop and if I was a betting man I wouldn't be putting on our players from penalties."

The Celtic boss believes they are up against the best team in La Liga at the present time and fears one away goal might not be good enough.

"I have to drum into the players how important it is to score, but that won't be easy," said O'Neill.

"We are capable of scoring away from home, but at the moment Barcelona are the best team in Spain. I think we will have to score to have any chance of going through and one goal might not be enough, but that would give us a big chance."

"We know they come out at us, but we must try to put pressure on them."

O'Neill has also warned his side he will tolerate indiscipline in the Nou Camp after the bad-tempered affair at Parkhead two weeks ago. Robert Douglas and Thiago Motta were sent off after a fracas in the tunnel, and Javier Saviola was also dismissed.

Bobo Balde also misses tonight's game after being booked in the same game and O'Neill will not accept any loss of control from his stars.