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UEFA Cup First Round: Scottish Clubs: Stubbs wants Celtic to respond to challenge

Wednesday 15 September 1999 23:02 BST
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ALAN STUBBS admits Rangers have raised the standard for Scottish clubs in Europe by qualifying for the Champions' League and has warned that Celtic cannot afford to be left behind.

His side meet Hapoel Tel Aviv in their Uefa Cup first round, first leg match tonight and Stubbs hopes it will signal the start of a Celtic run to keep pace with Rangers' progress.

"It's fair to say the Celtic supporters want us to do well in Europe and looking from the fans' perspective they'll want us to do well because Rangers are now in the Champions' League," Stubbs said.

"Some people will make comparisons about how far we'll go in the Uefa Cup and it's important for the club we do go a long way because Europe is the place to be and where we want to be."

Kilmarnock play Kaiserslautern but are in the dark over their opponents. Bobby Williamson, the Killie manager, has not seen the German side, that includes the French World Cup winner Youri Djorkaeff, in competitive action this season, either live or on TV.

St Johnstone will have to keep a close eye the Monaco midfielder Marchelo Gallardo, who has 40 caps for Argentina, and another French World Cup winner, David Trezeguet, who partners the Italian Marco Simone in attack.

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