Jos Hooiveld hopes to see Braga cowed by crowd

JOS Hooiveld has encouraged Celtic's fans to will them on to an unlikely comeback against Braga in tomorrow's Champions League qualifier at Parkhead.

A dismal defensive performance in Portugal last week left Celtic's hopes of staying in Europe's premier club competition hanging by a thread. Three sloppy goals allowed Braga to take a 3-0 lead into the second leg of the third-qualifying-round tie in Glasgow.

His team may have a mountain to climb to reach the play-off round, but Dutch defender Hooiveld is pinning his hopes on the possibility the visitors will wilt under the pressure of playing in front of a noisy crowd in Glasgow.

"I hope it will be an atmosphere with 60,000 crazy Celtic fans screaming at them on Wednesday," said Hooiveld. "I don't think they're used to that kind of atmosphere. I think we can 'put the fire at their shins', as we say in Holland. The crowd could be our 12th, 13th and 14th man for sure."

Celtic's defensive frailties were exposed again during last weekend's Emirates Cup, where they conceded three goals against Arsenal and two against Lyon.

However, Hooiveld claims Celtic do not have an issue with dealing with set-plays. "I don't think it's a problem for us," he said. "We couldn't stop the penalty or the free-kick in Braga but we should've stopped the other goal. I don't think it's a big problem. People are concerned but we aren't."

While Celtic manager Lennon has denied the club's packed pre-season schedule, which has included a tour of North America and the Emirates Cup tournament at Arsenal has jeopardised his side's Champions League chances, Hooiveld says the experience has been a draining one.

"If I had to choose, I would have done it differently," said the 27-year old. "We have played so many games, we have done so much travelling. No matter how you do it, you're always going to lose energy from that kind of travelling. We should not have lost so much energy from that. On the other hand, it's good to play the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal. That is a good way to prepare, although I would have preferred it if it was at our training ground."