Mackay-Steven Agrees Celtic Deal

Photo by Jeff Holmes

Celtic boss Ronny Deila began preparing for next season by signing Dundee United winger Gary Mackay-Steven on a pre-contract agreement. The Parkhead side confirmed on Friday that the 24-year-old Scotland cap will join the Scottish champions this summer. Mackay-Steven, who started his career with Ross County, made his first-team debut for United in July 2011, and has gone on to make almost 130 appearances for the Tayside club. United, in a statement, claimed the player had rejected several attempts to extend his contract, "including an offer that would have made him one of the highest earners at Tannadice". "He is a player we have been looking at for a long time," said Deila as he prepared for the trip to Hamilton on Saturday, where defender Adam Matthews ruled out revenge as motive for Celtic's bid for victory. The Lanarkshire side grabbed the headlines in October when they beat Deila's men 1-0 at Parkhead with their first win over the Hoops in 76 years. Celtic went on an impressive run of nine league wins after that but still have not been able to shake off Accies, who can go level on points with the Parkhead side, albeit the Hoops have two games in hand following their return from the winter break in Gran Canaria. Matthews, who missed the defeat to Hamilton, said: "You don't like to lose to any team. But we're not looking for revenge. "We go into this game the same we do every game looking to win and play as well as we can. "Obviously we were disappointed to lose against them but since that defeat we went on a good run, I think nine games unbeaten. Maybe that was the wake-up call we needed. "It's going to be a tough game but we know what we've got to do and we're fully focused on the job ahead. "Obviously there's a bit more pressure playing catch-up but we know if we win our games in hand we go back top." Celtic's last outing at Kilmarnock saw them win 2-0 in impressive fashion on Rugby Park's artificial surface. Accies also have a plastic pitch but the Wales international was not for putting two and two together. He said: "They are difficult pitches to play on because you don't see them every day. "We played really well against Kilmarnock. Sometimes the pitch can be sticky so I think the rain helped. "We've just go to see what it's like when we get there. Hopefully we can play the same as we did against Kilmarnock. if not, we've got to adapt quickly and find a way to win the game."