KILMARNOCK midfielder Mohamed El Makrini has an extra incentive to do well at Celtic Park tomorrow – so he can show his face at his son’s training again next week.
The Dutchman, the scorer of a fine goal against Hibs last week, got involved in a bit of light-hearted banter about the prospect of this match last week with the Celtic-supporting father of one of his son Lot’s team-mates. He knows that upsetting the odds in the East End of Glasgow would allow son bragging rights and permit him to return to the sidelines with a bit of additional swagger.
“It was funny,” said El Makrini. “My little son trains with the
2011s every week and another Dad who is there every week to watch, said I wouldn’t be scoring at Celtic Park.
“But I said, ‘if I can score, I
will score!’. Otherwise I will not
be going to Lot’s training this week!”
El Makrini wasn’t part of the Kilmarnock side under Steve Clarke which consistently upset the odds against both Celtic and Rangers but he isn’t without pedigree when it comes to shocking the big guns.
Last December, when Ajax were casting all before them in the Champions League, El Makrini’s Roda side gave them a fright in a cup tie.
“We drew against Ajax in the Cup but lost against them on penalties,” said El Makrini. “Players like Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs De Ligt, who is playing for Juventus now, were on the pitch so that was an okay result for us. We couldn’t quite get the result but we only lost on penalties.
“You need to be patient in these games. If you have the ball then you need to play it out of the pressure and then maybe if you get some chances on the counter then it can go against them.
“If it is still 0-0 after half-an-hour then the crowd wants more and maybe that can help us. I think the pressure is on their side.”
Stewart Fisher
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