Mackay-Steven takes Malmo comments with a “pinch of salt”

Celtic winger Gary Mackay-Steven has insisted that he and his team-mates are only focusing on tomorrow’s clash with Dundee United at Tannadice, despite the second leg of their Champions League qualifier with Malmo being just around the corner.

Celtic travel to the Terrors ground hoping to bounce back to the top-of-the-table before Hearts host Partick Thistle later on tomorrow. A win for the Bhoys would make it four wins out of five to kick-start the season as Ronny Deila’s side pursue what would be their fifth league title in-a-row.

The Dundee United match comes on the back of verbal jibes being thrown to the Celtic players by their Malmo counterparts, with the Swedish side’s goalkeeper Johan Wiland branding Deila’s side ‘pigs’ and ‘children’ in the aftermath of Celtic’s first-leg victory.

But former Dundee United winger Mackay-Steven rubbished the notion that the name-calling will prove to be a distraction for the second-leg; instead stating that the prize of Champions League qualification will be enough to keep the Celtic players focused ahead of their trip to Sweden on Tuesday.

The Scottish international told the media at Lennoxtown:

We take those comments with a pinch of salt really. I don’t see where they get that idea from. It was a physical game (against Malmo), but we weren’t anymore physical than usual.

It was the first I had heard about the comments today, and I don’t know where they get it from because we didn’t change our game plan.

What is at stake is enough to fire us up, but we’ll put that to the back of our mind and focus on tomorrow first. They are maybe trying to get a reaction, but I don’t think that will work.

We won’t change anything about how we go about our business.

And the 24-year-old said that victory over Jackie McNamara’s men was the only thing playing on the Celtic squad’s minds.

We want to go back to league business (after the 3-2 win over Malmo). We’ve dropped points in the league so it’s an important game for us.

Dundee United will be hurting after the last game so we know it’ll be a tough game and one we desperately want three points in.

We’ll put Malmo to the back of our minds and focus on tomorrow first.