Football: Uefa Cup first round: Gould kept guessing

SCOTTISH CLUBS

THE CELTIC head coach, John Barnes, last night played down suggestions of a rift between himself and Jonathan Gould after the goalkeeper's angry reaction to being left out at the weekend.

Barnes revealed he has chosen one keeper from Gould and Dimitri Kharin to keep goal for Celtic against Hapoel Tel Aviv in tonight's Uefa Cup first-round second-leg game in Israel - but is keeping the decision to himself.

Defending a 2-0 first-leg advantage for a place in the Uefa Cup second round, Barnes knows it may prove a busy evening for whoever is selected to play at the Bloomfield Stadium. Gould has left Barnes in no doubt as to how upset he was at being demoted to the bench for Saturday's 2-0 win against Hibernian at Easter Road, but Barnes said: "To me it just shows that players care and want to play for Celtic." The Israeli midfielder Eyal Berkovic may not play in his homeland as he has not fully recovered from a recent hamstring injury.

St Johnstone take on Monaco at McDiarmid Park trying to overturn a 3- 0 deficit after the first leg. "I think the situation is very difficult for us," admitted the Saints manager, Sandy Clark. "We're aware that the first goal of the game will be vital."

At Rugby Park, Kilmarnock are also 3-0 down against Kaiserslautern. "We just need a few breaks," said their manager, Bobby Williamson.