Sports Digest: Anthony Stokes eager for Celtic success

Joe Ledley of Celtic celebrates the team’s second goal against Motherwell on Saturday.

Irish striker Anthony Stokes wants Celtic to make the most of their Europa League reprieve when they take on Atletico Madrid in Spain on Thursday night.

Neil Lennon’s side is back in the competition because Swizz club Sion fielded five ineligible players against them as they won 3-1 in the playoff round.

Celtic will now take Sion’s place in a group which also includes Udinese and Rennes and even though Sion have appealed to UEFA, the Celts are preparing as normal for Thursday’s game.

“It is going to be a very difficult game,” said the Dublin-born striker Stokes. “They are a top side but we are glad to be back in.

“We didn’t do ourselves justice in the games against Sion so we just want to take our chance now that we have an opportunity to get back in there.

“The Europa League games are massive games and will be tough but on our day we can compete with anyone. Beating Motherwell 4-0 on Saturday gives us a bit of confidence but we know that we have to be at our best in the coming games.”

Stokes insists it will be business as normal for Celtic despite the Sion appeal.

He added, “We are trying not to focus on that to be honest. As far as we are concerned, we are back in the competition and are focusing on the game and if anything comes about at the appeal on Tuesday, we will deal with it then.”

James Forrest scored twice against Motherwell in that 4-0 win with Joe Ledley and Ki Sung-yueng also on target in a game that saw captain Scott Brown again miss out with an ankle injury.

“In terms of the work rate, commitment and the pace they played at against Motherwell, they will need to match that at least in Spain. But we might have set up the team differently,” Lennon said.

“Scott has one of those injuries where he needs rest but with the fixtures it is difficult to give him that rest. He tweaked it a little bit on Thursday and it was too sore to even train on Friday.

“It’s not like Scott to be like that, if he pulls out of training he must be in a bit of pain. So we will see how he is on Tuesday and hopefully he will be okay for Thursday.

“He is such a good player and a valuable player for us, I don’t like leaving him out at anytime and Thursday is a different type of game.

“Away from home in Europe he is the type of player that I would want in the team. We won’t have the lion’s share of possession and won’t create as many chances as we did on Saturday.

“We are hoping he will get through the two games but I will have to be advised by the medical team on that and obviously Scott himself.

“If I could choose it would probably be Sunday for the league against Rangers is the priority. But it would be a bonus if we had him for both games.”

Meanwhile Irish winger Paddy McCourt insists he is not leaving Parkhead after being assured by Lennon of his role in the team.

“It’s rare something would happen to you on transfer deadline day without you knowing so I wasn’t going anywhere,” McCourt told the Daily Record.

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Nster.com