samaras retains title belief

David Friel
GEORGIOS SAMARAS has promised that Celtic will do everything in their power to beat Rangers on Wednesday night and blow the SPL title race wide open.

Sunday’s 4-1 demolition of Motherwell left the Hoops four points behind the Ibrox men and another victory tomorrow would take Gordon Strachan’s side to within touching distance of the leaders – with the two sides scheduled to meet again next Sunday, April 27.

And Samaras, who hopes to be given the nod to spearhead the Celtic attack, is confident the reigning champions have enough firepower to earn a positive result against their city rivals.

“I think we must win to try to win the title,” he said. “It’s the most important game of the season…until the next one. I believe in myself and I believe in my team-mates.

“At the moment, I’m only looking at my team. I look only at what we are doing, and we will try to make chances and win the game. Are we good enough? Yes we are.

“Our mentality and character didn’t change because we lost a few games recently. We are the same team, with the same players and we have the same attitude. We had a great result at the weekend and we are ready, physically and mentally, to try to win the game tomorrow.”

Celtic Park is sure to be rocking by kick-off on Wednesday, with a capacity crowd guaranteed for the club’s first home derby of the season.

And Samaras admits that the Celtic supporters will play a leading role in the eagerly-anticipated clash at Paradise – as the Hoops look to put some pressure on Rangers.

“This is one of the best derbies in the world,” he said. “I played for Manchester City against Manchester United, but this game has 10 times more pressure and is a lot more fanatical. It’s nice to play in this kind of game.

“In football you never know what will happen. As I said, I look only at my team and all we can do is try to win the last six games and wait for something to happen with Rangers.

“It’s not in our hands, but if we can win those games, we will see what happens. The supporters can push us on and be really important for is – they can be like a 12th player for us.”