Celtic Move Three Points Closer To The Championship

Bhoys Defeat Bottom-Placed Dunfermline And Prepare For San Siro

Celtic warmed up for Wednesday's tie with AC Milan with a narrow win over bottom of the table Dunfermline. Kenny Miller shot the runaway SPL leaders ahead early in the game when he slotted home from a few yards out. Miller then missed two excellent chances from inside the six yard box before substitute Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink flicked in a clever header. Adam Hammill fired in a late goal for the visitors. Pippo Inzaghi has been passed fit for AC Milan's Champions League clash with Celtic. Inzaghi was on the bench for Saturday's victory over Chievo and came through a later fitness test unscathed. Milan insiders say Inzaghi will play from the start, while fullbacks Cafu and Kakha Kaladze are also available to coach Carlo Ancelotti.

Former Bhoy and now Sunderland manager Roy Keane is reportedly keen on bringing Thomas Gravesen to the Stadium of Light in the summer. Keane, who finished his distinguished playing career at Celtic, has masterminded a stirring revival of fortunes at Sunderland over the past six months. The form side in the Coca-Cola Championship, Sunderland are four points off the top of the table in fourth place. If they can book a return to the top table for next season, Danish international Gravesen could be one of Keane's first summer targets. The 30-year-old joined Celtic from Real Madrid last summer but has been out of favor in recent weeks and is said to be keen on a return to the Premiership at the end of the season.

Gordon Strachan has hit out at claims his team were lucky in their last-gasp Tennent's Scottish Cup win at Inverness. The Hoops were 90 seconds away from their third cup exit at the hands of Inverness this decade before Steven Pressley and Kenny Miller earned them a dramatic 2-1 victory and Strachan felt Celtic had done enough to win the quarter-final and he believes the criticism in general is unfair as they cannot be expected to win in style every game. He said: "We were told it would be hard in Inverness before we went there. We had seen plenty of television footage of their players celebrating with champagne after knocking Celtic out the cup four years ago. Celtic had more attempts at goal than Caley Thistle. We had 20 crosses to their eight, 600 passes to their 300 and 63% of the possession during the 90 minutes. Tell me any team who is able to play cosmic football at this time of the year?"

Celtic are reportedly chasing Real Murcia's Uruguayan centre-forward Ivan Alonso, who could move to Glasgow in the summer. The powerful international striker is being watched by Celtic and could be made available by promotion-chasing Murcia at the end of this season. Alonso, 27, is inside the final 18 months of his current contract in Spain and could move on, even if his club clinch promotion to the Primera Liga. Scouts from Celtic have run the rule over Alonso and are convinced his style of game will thrive in the hurly-burly of the SPL. Alonso has hit nine goals in 26 league starts for Murcia, while his best tally of 11 goals came two seasons ago.

Celtic teenager Tomislav Pavlov is hoping his recent move to Parkhead will be a step on the ladder to his long-term ambition of playing for Barcelona. The 15-year-old Bulgarian is set to sign a contract with the current SPL leaders in the summer, just after his 16th birthday. And Pavlov is determined to work hard to gain a regular place in the side. "It would be an amazing thing to play at Parkhead," Pavlov said. "The atmosphere in the stadium is absolutely fantastic and I can't even begin to describe it. Personally, my favorite players are Dimitar Berbatov and Leo Messi," continued Pavlov. "I like the Argentinian style of play and that's what I look to model myself on. Messi is certainly one of the best in the world and I can learn a lot from watching him. He is one of the big stars at Barcelona and my dream is to one day play for that club."

Shunsuke Nakamura has claimed his first ever Player of the Month award in Scotland. Celtic's Japanese midfielder has been in outstanding form this season as Celtic have romped to a 19-point lead at the top of the SPL and progressed to the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League. The midfielder provided assists in the games against Livingston, Hibs and Inverness Caledonian Thistle and scored another trademark set-piece against Aberdeen in a month which also saw Celtic book their place in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup.