Sutton prepared to drop back for Hartson

Celtic star Chris Sutton would not mind making way for John Hartson in attack for Thursday’s CIS Insurance Cup semi-final against Dundee United.

The Englishman has been operating in midfield for some time to accommodate Hartson, but with the Welshman injured he marked his return to his favoured striker’s role alongside Henrik Larsson at Firhill yesterday with a clinical first-half double.

But Sutton is willing to drop back again for this week’s Hampden Park clash with Hartson set to recover from a knee injury.

“I scored but the most important thing was that we won the game,” he said.

“Big John’s scored a lot of goals and I’ve not been playing up front but playing behind or in midfield there isn’t too much pressure to score.

“But in the end the main thing is that we win games and I feel I make a contribution wherever I play.

“You will have to ask the manager what will happen now because he picks the team, but I like to play where I’m put.”

Sutton’s brace kept the champions three points behind Scottish Premier League leaders Rangers – and he reckons that the race for the title will come down to the Old Firm matches.

The former Blackburn Rovers star believes it is vital Celtic keep winning because he does not see their arch-rivals slipping up between now and the end of the campaign.

Sutton added: “We’ve just got to keep winning our games and see what happens.

“Rangers are a good side with good players so the chances are they won’t slip up and we’ve got to make sure we don’t.

“The more points the better really, but the Old Firm games are probably going to be crucial.

“If we go into the next Old Firm game eight or nine points behind then they won’t be that crucial.

“It’s a big month and we are in every competition – other than the Champions League – where we want to be and we have to get our heads down and do as well as we possibly can.”

Sutton’s seventh-minute strike settled his team-mates down and gave them the perfect platform to build on.

He continued: “I thought we played quite well in the first-half but once again the second half wasn’t so good.

“But the main thing was with Rangers winning that we picked the three points up. They don’t look like slipping up.”

The result was Partick Thistle’s third consecutive defeat since the restart of the season and manager John Lambie felt his players gifted Celtic the game.

“We gave them too much respect,” he said. “The goals were diabolical and we allowed Larsson too much space to come off Sutton all the time.

“For the second goal David Lilley had it and should have got it away, but he mis-kicked it straight to Sutton and that’s 2-0 up and it’s an uphill battle from then on.”

Meanwhile, O’Neill has offered Croatian international star Milan Rapaic the chance to win a dream move to Parkhead after inviting him to train with them this week.

The 29-year-old attacking midfielder will spend a few days with the champions, starting today, under the watchful eye of the Northern Irishman.