Celtic Scrape Three Points Against The Dons

McNamara Has No Regrets About Leaving The Club

On Saturday Gordon Strachan saw his players scrape a 1-0 victory at home to Aberdeen to move 16 points clear of the Dons and second-placed Rangers. Celtic needed Maciej Zurawski to come off the sub's bench to score a 72nd minute winner. And in the final minute Celtic needed his countryman, goalkeeper Artur Boruc, to make an incredible save to claim all three points. Strachan admitted Celtic are underperforming but said he is not bothered as long as they keep winning: "We aren't at our best at the moment but we are staying disciplined and organized and are hard to beat. On Saturday against Aberdeen we limited them to a single chance in the last minute and I'm happy to just keep grinding out results. I look around the other leagues in Europe and I see Lyon and Chelsea scraping 1-0 wins and that is what you have to do sometimes. Celtic have the same problem as Manchester United, with people expecting us to play super, super football as well as winning, but that is not always possible." Said Strachan.

Henrik Larsson's Man Utd debut could come against old boss Martin O'Neill after the Red Devils were drawn against Aston Villa in the FA Cup. Former Celt Larsson is eligible to play in the third-round tie which is scheduled for the first weekend in January. Larsson is reportedly in the money after agreeing the 12 week stint with United. The Swede, who will join United on-loan from Helsingborgs, will earn a massive £660,000 from his three-month deal.

Paul Telfer has revealed that he will call time on his Celtic career at the end of the season - regardless of any future contract offer from Gordon Strachan. The 35-year-has spent the past 18 months at Parkhead after signing for Strachan for a third time. But he will not be staying in Glasgow for a third season. He said: "My contract is up and even if there was an offer of another year I won't be staying. I feel fit enough to play on, but my family couldn't settle and are already back down south, so if a club came in I'd look at that."

Derek Riordan is rumored to be on the move in the January transfer window after failing to pin down a regular first-team place since arriving from Hibs in the summer. But Gordon Strachan is unhappy with the attention being paid to the striker and said: "I don't know if he is unhappy. Is anybody who doesn't get a game unhappy? I wouldn't be happy if I wasn't getting a game. It's how you handle not playing. But he has been all right for me. You can talk about everybody. Let's talk about Jiri (Jarosik) when he wasn't playing. We just seem to have this pre-occupation with local players, nobody gave two hoots about Jiri when he was out. What Jiri did was play away. He didn't complain, he just tried with the best of his ability and he is now reaping the benefits."

Former Celtic captain Jackie McNamara has no regrets over his decision to quit Parkhead club in the summer of 2005. McNamara followed manager Martin O'Neill out the Celtic Park exit-door, joining Wolves. While Wolves have toiled without any silverware, Celtic have been dominant north of the border, claiming the League and CIS Insurance Cup last season, stretching a distance clear of their rivals this time around and progressing to the Champions League group stages for the first time. But despite all that, and despite falling out of favor under Mick McCarthy this season,

McNamara, 33, insists he has no regrets about leaving Parkhead when he did. He said: "Things have not gone as well as I would have liked at Wolves but that's the way football can be... I do not regret the decision I made. It would have been 10 times worse for me if I'd stayed at Celtic. I look at Alan Thompson's situation now. He has been a top servant to the club, scored great goals and played a part in some of the best results in their history. But he is right out of the picture. Perhaps I would have ended up in the same situation - that's the way I look at it."

Injured Celtic defender Gary Caldwell hopes to return to action by the turn of the year. Caldwell has undergone surgery to clean out his knee after suffering an injury during the win over Inverness on November 18.

PSV Eindhoven's Jason Culina is the latest player to be lined with a move to Celtic. The 26-year-old Australian midfielder will reportedly be allowed to leave for around $2 million. Culina was an ever-present for his country during the World Cup in Germany during the summer, and has previously played for Sydney United, Sydney Olympic, Ajax, De Graafschap, Germinal Beerschot and FC Twente.