SPL: Larsson hails Hoops defence

Celtic star Henrik Larsson claims the water-tight defence assembled by boss Martin O’Neill is responsible for their back-to-back Scottish Premier League titles.

The Sweden international striker has fired 29 league goals this season and bagged a hat-trick in yesterday’s 5-1 demolition of Livingston to fire Celtic to their first consecutive titles in 20 years.

Strike partner John Hartson has also weighed in with 17 SPL goals, including a double on Saturday.

But Celtic have conceded just 16 goals all season and Larsson believes the likes of Robert Douglas, Bobo Balde, Joos Valgaeren, Johan Mjallby and Stephen Crainey deserve all the plaudits.

‘‘If you don’t have a tight defence then you don’t have anything,’’ said Larsson.

‘‘If those guys behind me hadn’t been playing so well I wouldn’t be sitting here talking about the title.

‘‘Everybody played their part at the back and have been excellent all season and that’s what you need to win the championship.’’

He also refused to take the credit for yesterday’s title-clinching win - despite his stunning treble.

Larsson said: ‘‘For me it’s not about the strikers, the defenders deserve a lot of credit.

‘‘Even if you look yesterday a midfielder, Paul Lambert, set up two of the goals I scored.

‘‘Everybody in the team works for each other, but it’s true I’ve developed an understanding with John Hartson and Chris Sutton and that too is always important.’’

Larsson did not even realised he had scored his 100th SPL goal yesterday.

He added: ‘‘I wasn’t aware of that until somebody told me after the game.

‘‘That’s a great feeling for me, but I know I’m a little bit boring when I say that the most important thing for me is getting the result for the team. That’s always the priority.’’

Larsson is now looking forward to the Tennent’s Scottish Cup final and World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea.

After a gruelling season he could be expected to be feeling jaded, but he claims he is feeling as fresh as ever.

‘‘We still have a few games to play in the league, the we have a cup final and then I have the World Cup,’’ said Larsson. ‘‘That’s great as well because these kind of things are what you look forward to.

‘‘But this season I have been rested more than any other time, if you look at the games against Aberdeen.

‘‘I’ve also not played many games in the CIS Insurance Cup until the later stages and I’ve also missed Sweden’s friendlies against England and Greece so it’s the most rest I have ever had in a year. At the moment I just want to enjoy it.’’