Strachan shrugs off poor away record

CELTIC manager Gordon Strachan insists his players must not shoulder all the blame for the club’s away form in Europe as they prepare for their Champions League clash with Villarreal.

The Hoops have taken just one point from 45 in the group stage of the competition away from Parkhead stretching back to the time when Martin O’Neill was in charge of the Glasgow club.

While accepting his part over the last three seasons, Strachan insists the dismal statistic has to be taken into context.

He said: “While it’s been a long time without a win in the Champions League section we can be proud that we have had the opportunity to lose those games. That shows that we have been doing a lot of things right.

“What you can’t do is blame all the players because I don’t think any of them have played in all 15 games. Neither have the coaches or myself.

“So you can’t take all the burden and the expectations that have been built up.

“What you can do is take responsibility for the games you have been involved in and try to do something about it. But we will not take responsibility for all 15 games.”

Strachan believes a point in Spain will still leave the Scottish champions with a chance of qualifying for the knock-out stages despite drawing their Group E opener against Aalborg at Celtic Park.

He said: “A draw wouldn’t be a bad result at all – it means, hopefully, that it will take less points to qualify.

“Some clubs have qualified with seven while others have missed out with nine.

“So a draw will be a good performance and all you can look for is a good performance because some times after that it’s in the lap of the gods.”

Celtic striker Scott McDonald believes the Parkhead side need to stop giving away “cheap goals” if they are to achieve that elusive away win in Europe.

However, the Australian international is well aware of just how difficult victory over the Spanish side will be in the closed confines of their 25,000-capacity El Madrigal stadium.

He said: “In the past we have lost cheap goals very early and that has not helped us in games so we need to put an end to that.

“A couple of times we have come agonisingly close to getting something in these away games and Benfica in particular was one of those games and they just managed to nick it in the end.

“So cheap goals have cost us dearly and once you go behind it’s always difficult to get something back from the game.

“But we know how difficult it’s going to be, in Scotland we are used to having lots of possession and dominating the games and when you do give the ball away you get it back quickly or you’re not punished for it.

“But teams like Villarreal tend to keep the ball very well but we will have to keep battling away and maybe be more patient than usual.”