Kilmarnock boss Steve Clarke reckons it’s far too early to jump to conclusions over Celtic’s strength

STEVE CLARKE says suggestions that Celtic are weaker this season are wide of the mark.

But he insists his Killie side can turn them over today – just like they did last season when they also held Celtic twice.

Brendan Rodgers’ double Treble winners have already dropped points at Tynecastle and in Paisley.

But Clarke reckons it’s far too early to make assumptions about the best team in the country.

He said: “It’s normal speculation around a team that has won the last six domestic trophies, but it’s far too early.

“We’re not even out of September, and everyone already wants to make judgments on a team that has proven since Brendan went there that they’re going to compete for every single trophy in the domestic market.

“It’s far too early to be making judgments on Celtic. They still have a lot of very, very good players.

“On their day, they’re still a very, very good team – one we’ll have to be at our very best again to get anything out of the game.

“The fact they’ve dropped points against other teams is not relevant to the game against us.

“But we always go into a game with confidence. If we do our work well and are prepared for the game, we should go into it confident.

“If we’re at our very, very best, we can get something from the game.”

Clarke is hoping that Eamon Brophy and Greg Stewart will be a handful for Celtic today.

He said: Those two are the boys in pole position at the moment, because they’ve scored a couple of goals each in the last two games.

“It’s a partnership that could develop and could become better for us.

“You want hungry players, and both of them have shown a hunger to do well.”