Lyons Confident Kilmarnock Can Leverage Home Advantage Against Celtic Again

Despite Kilmarnock’s home record not yet reaching its usual high standards this season, midfielder Brad Lyons expressed optimism that his team can once again establish Rugby Park as a formidable ground when they host champions Celtic on Sunday. Manager Derek McInnes’ squad secured two home victories against Celtic last season, one in the league and another in the League Cup, and has also defeated Rangers in Ayrshire during the current campaign. “Over the last three years since we came back up from the Championship, our home form has been really good,” Lyons said. He further elaborated on the potential factors, adding, “I don’t know whether it’s our home fans supporting us or the pitch – nobody likes coming and playing on the pitch. We are used to it, we train on it every day, we know the way the ball bounces and it can be different at times.” Lyons concluded, “Sometimes it can be the mentality thing. Hopefully we can use the home advantage to our benefit on Sunday.” Nevertheless, Killie will face a confident Celtic team, buoyed by their impressive Champions League triumph against RB Leipzig. Lyons affirmed, “We know Celtic’s qualities, they have quality players in every position, but so do we.” He continued, “We are not going into this game shying away from it. We know their quality, but we can give them a good go here.” Expressing his team’s resolve, Lyons declared, “We are going to go in and back ourselves. It’s 11 players against 11 players out there. As I said before the Rangers game, we beat both Old Firm teams out there last year so why can’t we do it this year?” He concluded with a confident outlook, asking, “We have that feeling of beating Celtic, we have that confidence, we know we can do it, so why can’t we do it again on Sunday?”