UEFA Cup Quarter-finals, second leg: Martin O'Neill is ready to take one of the biggest gambles of his career in Spain tonight by picking Chris Sutton in the second leg of the UEFA Cup quarter-final.
Villarreal are in the driving seat after their 1-1 draw at Parkhead last week and Celtic manager O'Neill is desperate for Sutton to play.
The striker caused great concern at the weekend by hobbling off after scoring two goals in Celtic's Scottish Cup semi-final victory over Livingston when his groin problem flared up again.
Sutton declared himself fit after that game and his manager is ready to take a risk on him in Spain.
"He couldn't train today and I will leave that until the last possible minute," said the Irishman. "But I'm sure if Chris will want to deal himself in he will certainly start the game. If he wants to do that we will do that.
"It is hard to say at the minute what his chances are, but he wants to try and that will be good enough for us if that's what he wants to do."
Villarreal looked a better side at Parkhead last week than their 10th place in La Liga would suggest. With the Spaniards having knocked Roma and Galatasaray out of the competition, O'Neill believes their task is greater than in their semi-final win over Boavista last season.
A year ago they sent both the Portuguese side and Liverpool crashing out of the UEFA Cup, after a 1-1 draw in Glasgow, en route to Seville.
But O'Neill feels his side will have to surpass both those performances and their recent draw in the Nou Camp to go through to the last four.
"It is the UEFA Cup quarter-final and, of course, it is a big moment for us," he said. "We have been striving all year to try and make progress after the Champions League. We are now here for the second successive year in the quarter-final. It is exactly the same position that we found ourselves in a year ago.
"We have to try and win the game away from home. It's a significant game, and so very exciting. The similarity with Boavista is the fact that the score is exactly the same as the first leg. But with all due respect to Boavista, Villarreal are definitely a better side. We will have to play well tomorrow - but we are capable of scoring."
That's more easily said than done: no other side in the UEFA Cup has scored in the El Madrigal Stadium.
Sutton will be alongside Henrik Larsson and Liam Miller will replace the suspended Alan Thompson.
Villarreal coach Paquito should be able to call on a full squad. Wingers Jose Mari (back) and Antonio Guayre (torn muscle) are fit again.
VILLARREAL (4-1-3-2, probable): Reina; Venta, Coloccini, Ballesteros, Arruabarrena; Jossico; Jose Mari, Battaglia, Roger; Riquelme, Anderson.
CELTIC (4-4-2, probable): Marshall; Agathe, Balde, Varga, McNamara; Petrov, Lennon, Miller, Pearson; Larsson, Sutton.
Villarreal (1) v Celtic (1)
El Madrigal Stadium, 7.0
On TV: TG4, BBC 3
