No rest for Celtic players

Celtic manager Gordon Strachan will not rest key players during their punishing schedule as he believes his squad is fit enough to cope with two matches a week.

The Hoops tonight play in midweek for the fourth time in a run of five consecutive weeks when Dundee United visit Parkhead in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

Top scorer Scott McDonald started on the bench against Barcelona in the Champions League last week but, ahead of the visit of United and a trip to face Motherwell on Saturday, Strachan claims any changes will be for tactical reasons.

When asked if he would rest players during this spell, he said: “I don’t have to because they are fit.

“If there are going to be any changes I think it’s because that is the team that is most likely to win and feel good about themselves.

“But I feel they are really fit at the moment so I am pleased with that.”

A mixture of the heavy schedule and rain has caused problems for SPL teams’ training plans, including Celtic.

Despite a move to their new £8million Lennoxtown training complex earlier in the season, Strachan has spoken of the difficulty in conducting sessions in the wind and rain.

He said: “You have got to try to get it right, the training times, you have to look at the conditions of the training surfaces.

“It was all right yesterday, so we could do a wee bit of work.

“There is not really much coaching time as such, most of that is done in the dressing room and on the board because we have not got enough time to keep them out there in the pouring rain.”

Celtic host a United side in the middle of a five-match unbeaten run in the SPL, although their only victory in that time came against Gretna.

Their continued push for Europe has come despite selling captain Barry Robson to Celtic for £1.25million at the end of January.

And Strachan does not believe they are missing their former talisman too much after also reaching the CIS Cup final, where they face Rangers on Sunday.

“I’ve never really analysed that, but they have got to a final, so that means they are doing all right,” the Celtic manager said.

“They are fourth in the league so they are still doing well.”