As Gordon Strachan begins to formulate his plans for Sunday's Glasgow derby against the Huns he's sweating on the fitness of Marc Crosas. The former Barcelona player is seen by the manager as a vital performer in that central midfield battleground where so many of these games are won and lost. "Marc picked up an ankle injury in the game against Queen's Park at the weekend and once it settles down we will know if he can play against Rangers. " said the Celtic manager "It would be good for us if he was available for selection as I feel he helps to knit our team together at times. He performs an important role for us."
Strachan has been scathing of the whole team's performance against the amateur side from Hampden on Saturday and although Crosas is highly regarded by his boss, and despite the fact that he never completed the first half of the game, he didn't escape the flak "I felt Marc was dragged down to the same level of mediocrity as the rest of the team in what was an unacceptable performance against Queen's." said Strachan "But he has shown in certain games this season what an influential player he can be. Against Hibs and Dundee United, in particular, he was brilliant. In my opinion, Marc helps to gels things together. We will see how he is once the swelling on his injury goes down a little bit. But he will be a big loss if he is out."
The Celtic boss also has other injury concerns as the game against the dark side looms on the horizon. Captain Stephen McManus missed the weekend's cup-tie with a knee injury and Glenn Loovens also has a calf problem and suddenly Strachan's decision not to allow Darren O'Dea to leave on loan during the recent transfer window seems almost clairvoyant. O'Dea is a valuable and reliable member of the squad and he has never let the side down when called upon and it won't be a concern if he's in the line-up to face the Huns. The manager thought that O'Dea's team-mates let him down on Saturday though "I thought Darren did very well when he came in at the weekend. He deserved to be in a team which produced a better performance because of the good quality of his play." said the boss.
Shaun Maloney and Massimo Donati returned to action alongside Paul Hartley in the scrappy win over the Spiders. Hartley had missed the last three games but he was one of the few players who received pass-marks from the manager in the post-match post-mortem and he could very well have earned himself a starting berth against the Huns. "I was pleased Paul played against Queen's Park. He was one of my better picks on Saturday. He did his chances of playing against Rangers no harm at all with a good game." said Strachan.
Saturday's display was not the ideal preparation for a vital Glasgow derby match and, sadly, the sub-par performance was not out of character looking back over recent games but manager Strachan is hoping that the derby occasion will elevate the performance of his bhoys "I thought we were poor against Queen's Park. Technically, the level was not acceptable." said the Celtic boss "No doubt about it, we are struggling for consistency at the moment. We have to find one or two things in our play and try to get the blend of players in the team right. We don't have a good balance at the moment and we need to get that. When we are losing the ball we are struggling. We could also be more comfortable going forward than we have been in recent weeks. But I am sure that, as is always the case, when the Old Firm game comes around my players will be fully focused."