‘Celtic were the same' – Adam Matthews compares Shamrock Rovers expectations to Scottish Premiership giants

The Irish Sun

4 days ago

ADAM MATTHEWS reckons his four years at Celtic were the perfect prep for life at Shamrock Rovers.
And
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Adam Matthews believes Celtic helped prepare him for Shamrock Rovers
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Adam Matthews spent four years in Glasgow
Credit: PA:Press Association
In
After subsequently playing for
And ahead of tonight's game with
Matthews said: 'Celtic's a massive, massive team, but you get the same feeling with the fans. You are expected to win every game.
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'Obviously, you can't, even
'We go into every game hoping to, well, thinking we can win. Celtic were the same.'
The Hoops have made good on their belief lately, winning their last five games to go six points clear at the top of the table.
Matthews — who played with Rovers director of
football
Stephen McPhail at
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A knee gash suffered on his debut against Bohemians was not the only reason he had been used more sparingly.
Boss Bradley said: 'We had to be careful and had to be slow with him because he'd come in late and he had been inactive for a few months. It was never going to be that he was ready from the start.
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'I spoke to a few of his managers previously and they all raved about him on and off the pitch. I had a good conversation with Neil Lennon about him, he had him in Celtic and in Cyprus and couldn't speak highly enough of him. We'd done our homework with Stephen but then when you hear that from someone like Neil, it was a no-brainer.
'You can see his versatility, what he's brought to us in terms of he started left wing-back up in
'He's played recently like a right wing-back. His quality was never in doubt, obviously with the level he's played at, but he's been brilliant around the group too.'
After parting company with Omonia, who he helped win the Cypriot Cup in 2023, Matthews was back in
Wales
and training with Carmarthen Town before Rovers offered him a route back into full-time football.
He said: 'It does happen in football. The older you get, the more you expect that to happen. It was tough but I just needed to keep myself fit and wait for the opportunity, and thankfully Stephen gave me a ring.
'I was training with a team in
Bar speaking to former Celtic team-mate Paddy McCourt and ex-Sunderland colleague
work
.
And he is reasonably impressed with Rovers and the League itself. He said: 'You've got a good manager, good tactically, so it's very similar to a lot of the clubs that I've been at to be honest. Obviously the facilities in some of the clubs are a bit better, but at the bigger clubs, you're going to get that.
'Training-wise, I think it's very similar. It's a very competitive league. I think you can see by the league table that anyone can beat anyone.
'But we're on a good run at the minute, created a bit of a gap. Our aim is to try and keep winning games and make the gap bigger.'