Gemmell backs Larsson-Hartson partnership

Celtic legend Tommy Gemmell has urged Martin O’Neill to leave Chris Sutton on the bench – because Henrik Larsson and John Hartson can fire Celtic to the UEFA Cup final.

English striker Sutton is now back in the reckoning after getting a lighter cast put on the wrist he broke in the CIS Insurance Cup final.

O’Neill could use Sutton’s return to boost his players after the defeat to Hearts, but former Celtic full-back Gemmell believes Larsson and Hartson are capable of seeing off Boavista in tomorrow night’s semi-final second leg.

“Larsson and Hartson have been doing pretty well together,” said Gemmell.

“If there’s any doubt about Sutton by no means play him. I’m confident they can score the goals.

“But if Sutton is able to play I would think at best he will be on the bench because he hasn’t played any matches.

“Of course his match fitness will be below-par for such a big game, but if he is on the bench and you ask him to go on for an hour then he will do his bit.”

It will be interesting to see how Celtic react after the last-gasp defeat at Tynecastle, but Gemmell claims they will not need O’Neill to motivate them.

“He won’t need to pick the players up because the players know exactly what’s at stake,” he added. “He will pick them up and to my mind he will have his game plan set out.

“He will know exactly what he’s doing. Sometimes results go for you and sometimes they don’t and on Saturday it did not work out.

“They have done so well away from home in Europe this year and I don’t see a reason why they can’t do it again and book their place in the final.”

While he feels that Larsson and Hartson hold the key to securing a trip to Seville, Gemmell is confident the defence will stay alert for the full 90 minutes in contrast to the away leg against Stuttgart in the fourth round, when they conceded two late goals but hung on to win 5-4 on aggregate.

Gemmell said: “The key players have got to be the goalscorers because they have to score a goal, but at the same time they have got to keep things tight at the back and not give anything away stupidly.

“They took the foot off the pedal a wee bit in Stuttgart, but I don’t see that happening tomorrow. I actually strongly fancy them to go through.”

Gemmell is also adamant that Liverpool are far superior to Boavista, who he expects to be sent tumbling the way of the Merseyside giants.

“I’ve got every confidence they (Celtic) will go through because of the previous results they have had,” he added.

“They have proved away from home that they can do the business and the one thing they know is that they need to score a goal – that is the bottom line.

“They have to score a goal or two and not lose anything – but if they can do it in Germany, Spain and England twice they can do it in Portugal.

“You saw the result against Liverpool at Celtic Park and everyone had them counted out and then they went down to Liverpool and did the business.

“Now in my mind Liverpool are a much superior side to Boavista so if they can do it to Liverpool, Blackburn, Stuttgart and Celta Vigo they can do it to Boavista.

“As far as I’m concerned I have every confidence they will go through and I believe they will have no problems doing it over there.”