Natalie Ross: Celts head into derby on back of confident display

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Celtic F.C.

·3 May 2024

Natalie Ross: Celts head into derby on back of confident display

Celtic FC Women travel to Broadwood Stadium this May Day Monday holiday to take on Rangers in a game that will have a massive bearing on the outcome of this season’s title challenge for the Ghirls.

There is a points’ deadlock at the top of the table, with the Hoops and their Ibrox counterparts tied on 72 points going into the clash, but the Celts have a comfy cushion of being 13 goals better off.

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At the beginning of the week, the pressure was on following a defeat to Rangers at Hampden in the Scottish Cup semi-final, but the Hoops came out fighting in midweek against Glasgow City in the league and a bounce-back performance merited more than the single point the 2-2 draw produced.

Hoops midfielder, Natalie Ross said on looking back at the semi-final: “When we finished on Saturday it was disappointing, of course, in the way we lost it, the way we performed, but for me that game is done.

‘Now we just focus on the next game and we need to beat Rangers. We are in a good positons and I’m confident going into that game.’

“We need to beat the top teams, we need to play the top teams to win the league, so whenever we play them and the next game is Rangers, the focus is on Rangers.

“We know what it takes to beat them, we can beat them and we had a great performance against Glasgow City.

“We dominated the game, we probably should have got more out of it, but it was a very strong performance going into Monday’s game.”

It’s a position Ross has been in before, winning the title with Hibernian back when the Edinburgh side were the only viable threat to the monopoly of Glasgow City.

And her experience in almost two decades of top-level football will not only stand her in good stead, but also help the other members of the Hoops squad.

She said: “It’s just keeping that level head, especially in training and games maybe when you can see people becoming a bit nervous and apprehensive coming to the end of the season.

'It’s just having that level head, being confident and supporting them as best you can.'

“Every time they do something well, you need to let them know. Everyone will make mistakes, but it’s how you react to those mistakes, and I think we’ve got a really strong squad.”

Another aspect of the recent displays has been the influence of Head Coach, Elena Sadiku on the style of play adopted by the team under the new management, and Ross is delighted with the changes the Swede has introduced.

She said: “You can see on the pitch the improvement, the intensity on and off the ball, and in every training session she expects a lot from us

“You can see again that the players who come on the pitch are ready to perform and she’s put us in a great position to win the league title.

“It’s exciting football, it’s fast-paced football, we like to keep the ball and I’m a technical player, I like short passes, long passes as well to exploit the back-line, but it’s exciting football and that’s what we want the fans to see as well.

“We see the crowds that are coming to watch us, everyone is enjoying it, the kids that stay behind to speak to us.

"There’s definitely been an influence on that and we’re looking forward to the next few games.”