Celtic now have to bounce back from a humiliating defeat at the hands of Droylsden against strugglers Barrow on Saturday (kick off 3pm). Barrow are currently occupying the third relegation spot, six places and four points behind Celtic on eight points.
Their season hasn?t panned out the way they would have hoped under the stewardship of ex-Celtic manager Phil Wilson. With two wins and two draws, they have had six losses this season, with their last win in the home match against Droylsden back at the end of August. Their last points came last week when they held Workington to a goalless draw at home on Tuesday night. Out of their home games this season, they have lost 0-4 to Redditch, and to Harrogate 2-3, as well as losing the opening day fixture 0-1 to Worcester City.
The Bluebirds have not scored a goal in any of their last four matches, and have played 273 minutes of football since Kyle Wilson scored their last goal. The gaffer?s son is currently Barrow?s top scorer, with three goals. On top of this, Barrow have kept just one clean sheet this season. This means that they have a goals scored ratio of 0.8 goals per game at home (one overall), whilst conceding an average of 1.8 goals per game at home (1.6 overall). With five of their nine goals coming in the second half, they score fairly evenly between the two halves, but with ten of their sixteen conceded goals coming in the first half, they look vulnerable from off, conceding most heavily around the half hour mark.
By comparison, Celtic have lost their last three away games, the most recent being the battering at the hands of Droylsden. Our top scorer is Lee Ellington, who now has four. We score an average of 0.8 goals per away game (1.6 overall) and concede two goals per away game (1.8 overall). We have kept three clean sheets this season, two of them away, whilst we have scored in all but one game ? the 0-0 draw at Harrogate.
Barrow do not appear to have any injury or suspension worries ahead of the game, and lined up against Gainsborough in their last match (that they lost 1-0 away from home) as:
1. Jamie Speare
2. Paul Jones
3. Stuart Howson
4. James Cotterill
5. Michael Eckersley
6. Steve Ridley
7. Andrew Bond
8. Michael Stringfellow
9. Steve Flitcroft
10. Tom Pope
11. Alex Taylor
Celtic will definitely be without Mark Hume, who is suspended for the match, following the sending off against Moor Green. In the 6-1 defeat away at Droylsden, Celtic lined up as:
1. Paul Pettinger
2. Grant Black
3. Scott Maxfield
4. Mark Hume
5. Mark Haran
6. Ashley Winn
7. Steve Brodie
8. Barrie Keeling
9. Lee Ellington
10. Paul Sykes
11. Neil Prince
Celtic will have to put the last game out of their mind ahead of this clash with what has always been tough opposition. Though we beat them in our last meeting at Bower Fold, we have to go back to the final season of the Unibond when we beat them 2-0 at their place. Our last two visits have both been wins for the Cumbrian outfit. The automated prediction algorithm doesn?t hold out much hope in us beating Barrow this time either, suggesting a 2-2 draw. Celtic have the squad that is capable of much more than was witnessed at the Butcher?s Arms, and Saturday is the day to prove it.
