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Joe Ledley excited about Celtic future after Europa League win over Utrecht
Stand-in left-back pleased with European victory...
20 Aug 2010 18:12:00
By Jim Barg
Celtic midfielder Joe Ledley believes the club produced their best performance since Neil Lennon took over as manager in Thursday night's 2-0 win against Dutch outfit Utrecht at Celtic Park.
Following their impressive outing in Europe, Ledley is hoping the best may be yet to come from the Glasgow club.
Speaking to the Glasgow Evening Times, Ledley said: “I think that was probably our best performance yet.
“I thought we started the game well and managed to maintain that throughout the first half and into the second period as well, when you make a good start to the game it’s important to build on that and try not to allow your opponents back into the game and I don’t think we offered Utrecht any encouragement at all.
“Scoring the first goal is obviously important as it helps settle everyone down and it gave the group a huge lift, and I thought our attacking play was causing them a lot of problems and the second goal came at a period in the game when we were well on top.
"It would have been nice to grab a third after the interval, but you’ve got to be happy with 2-0.”
Ledley was especially pleased at the clean sheet, not least because he was at left-back after Charlie Mulgrew was ruled out Thursday afternoon with an injury.
He said: “I’ve never played left-back in my life, as I’m a midfielder and the gaffer knows that, but sometimes you’ve got to help out the team and that is now a couple of occasions I’ve had to fill in.
“It most certainly isn’t a problem, but I’ll be honest and say it isn’t my natural position and I feel a lot more comfortable playing in the middle of the park than I do back there."
Celtic entertain St Mirren at Parkhead on Sunday and Ledley is putting the return leg to the back of his mind until that is out of the way.
He said: “You have to focus on the next game – we’ll prepare for Utrecht after Sunday.
“It will be nice to play my first league game at Celtic Park on Sunday and hopefully we can build on our victory over Caley Thistle last weekend, and last night, by taking all three points against St Mirren.”
| Bet: | Returns: | Dundee Utd XI £120.00 | Draw £12.00 | Celtic £45.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Dundee Utd XI £150.00 | Draw £14.00 | Celtic £36.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Dundee Utd XI £50.00 | Draw £37.50 | Celtic £16.70 |
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Following their impressive outing in Europe, Ledley is hoping the best may be yet to come from the Glasgow club.
Speaking to the Glasgow Evening Times, Ledley said: “I think that was probably our best performance yet.
“I thought we started the game well and managed to maintain that throughout the first half and into the second period as well, when you make a good start to the game it’s important to build on that and try not to allow your opponents back into the game and I don’t think we offered Utrecht any encouragement at all.
“Scoring the first goal is obviously important as it helps settle everyone down and it gave the group a huge lift, and I thought our attacking play was causing them a lot of problems and the second goal came at a period in the game when we were well on top.
"It would have been nice to grab a third after the interval, but you’ve got to be happy with 2-0.”
Ledley was especially pleased at the clean sheet, not least because he was at left-back after Charlie Mulgrew was ruled out Thursday afternoon with an injury.
He said: “I’ve never played left-back in my life, as I’m a midfielder and the gaffer knows that, but sometimes you’ve got to help out the team and that is now a couple of occasions I’ve had to fill in.
“It most certainly isn’t a problem, but I’ll be honest and say it isn’t my natural position and I feel a lot more comfortable playing in the middle of the park than I do back there."
Celtic entertain St Mirren at Parkhead on Sunday and Ledley is putting the return leg to the back of his mind until that is out of the way.
He said: “You have to focus on the next game – we’ll prepare for Utrecht after Sunday.
“It will be nice to play my first league game at Celtic Park on Sunday and hopefully we can build on our victory over Caley Thistle last weekend, and last night, by taking all three points against St Mirren.”
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