McGrain expects flood of offers for O'Neill

Danny McGrain believes Celtic will face another battle to keep manager Martin O’Neill if they beat Porto in the UEFA Cup final.

The Northern Irishman is the first Parkhead boss to take the club to a European final since 1970 and McGrain wants him to stay as much as the supporters.

But despite signing a rolling contract in January, McGrain fears England’s top clubs will soon try to lure the former Leicester manager back south.

“I’m sure clubs will come knocking,” McGrain said. "The decision what to do is up to Martin and whether he would be happy to go or happy to stay.

“It comes down to one man and we’re all hoping that he does stay because he has bred success at the club.

“He has got the players to huge games like the UEFA Cup final with great belief and what he has done has been phenomenal.”

McGrain is convinced Celtic will lift the UEFA Cup in Seville and believes they have already sent far better teams than Porto crashing out en route to the final.

The defending Scottish champions have been underdogs throughout the competition after missing out on the Champions League but they have proved the experts wrong time and time again by defeating Liverpool, Boavista, Stuttgart, Celta Vigo and Blackburn.

The odds are against them again against the runaway Portuguese league leaders but the Celtic legend believes they have nothing to fear.

“Of course they can do it,” insisted McGrain.

“They have played Porto in the Champions League and were comprehensively beaten over there so they know what to expect.

“But people say that Manchester United would have won the Champions League final at Old Trafford against Real Madrid 4-3 in a one-off game.

“If we are playing Porto in one game then we’ve got a great chance over 90 minutes. There’s no goals counting double or anything so they can do it.

“They have got there so far with great attitude and determination. It would be great for Celtic Football Club and Martin O’Neill if they won it.

“They’ve been total underdogs every time they’ve played. I thought they were going out against Boavista but they did it again and I’m sure they will complete the job.

“The legs they’ve played to get to the final have been far tougher than Porto but at the end of the day we’re both at the final and both teams will be going all out to win.”