I battled Odsonne Edouard when I played against Celtic and now I'm about to square up to Hoops in the dugout
Sean Crighton had the unenviable task of marking Odsonne Edouard and his Celtic pals during Brendan Rodgers' first stint in Glasgow.
Now the Queen's Park boss reckons his players facing the Hoops in Friday's friendly will prepare them for the energy-sapping Championship.
Former stopper Crighton, 35, faced Celtic with Brechin and Airdrie and will do battle with them again this evening when he invites Rodgers and co to Lesser Hampden.
He said: 'We need to know where the players are at.
'You're playing a dominant team in terms of having the ball, so it'll show us where we're at fitness-wise as well. It's going to be a really good test.
'I want the players to be prepared for what's coming and what's real.
'We've got all the data we can look at as well and go, 'Look how much we ran against Celtic and how much we ran against an opposition in the Championship or League Cup'.
'As a player, you thrive – it's an automatic thing. You would love to say to players you should be like that all the time but unfortunately they're not.
'When you come up against
a Celtic or a bigger opposition, you want to give it your all. They've got a young squad as well, they might catch the eye.
'For me, that means their concentration is better and they've got that wee bit of smartness about them.
'I really enjoyed playing against Celtic. I was playing the first time against Edouard when he was a young boy coming from Paris St-Germain, then you play against Oli Burke.
'It's a tough test but it's good for the players to experience that as well because I know Celtic will be strong, which we're looking forward to.'
Queen's have long been linked with a tie-up with Celtic. Asked if tonight could help that process, Crighton added: 'It can certainly help.
"It's been rumoured for a few months that we've been in talks with Celtic. Until it's all finalised, we just don't know.'
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