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Ready for a fight

30/ 4/2008

STALYBRIDGE Celtic boss Steve Burr is under no illusion that his side faces a hard task if they are to reach the Blue Square North play-off final.

Celtic head into the semi-final on the back of last Saturday’s 6-0 hammering of Redditch United, a result which confirmed third place in the table.

Having played the first leg of their semi-final at Haig Avenue on Wednesday, Burr would be a happy man if his players were still in with a shout going into Sunday’s return leg at Bower Fold.

He said: "I think the most important thing is to make sure we’re still in the tie because having the second leg at home is probably a slight advantage; if you asked 10 people if they wanted to play a first leg away from home and the second at home, nine would probably say ‘yes.’"

"If we can produce the performances that we’ve been showing over two games, we’re confident that can see us into the final but we’re concentrating on these next two games."

The Sandgrounders will not be a pushover though, having won their last four matches, while both games against Celtic this season have been closely-fought affairs.

Goals from Andy Smart and Carlos Roca gave the Celts a 2-2 draw at Bower Fold on February 12 before the return game at Haig Avenue on March 15 saw Celtic win 3-2 thanks to Ashley Winn, Alex Meechan and Paul Sykes.

Consequently, Burr is expecting more of the same as Celtic bid to face the winners of the other semi-final between AFC Telford United and Barrow in the final a week on Friday.

However, he will be boosted by the return of Chris Hall who was rested for the victory against Redditch United, replaced by Lee Ellington who capitalised on his return by scoring twice.

Burr said: "I was delighted for Lee because he’d been out for a while but came back in and got two goals after an indifferent season by his own standards."