STEPHEN McManus insists the strongest squad he has ever known at Celtic is more than equipped to handle a hectic end to 2008.
The matches come thick and fast for the Clydesdale Bank Premier League champions over the next couple of months, with 17 fixtures to be fulfilled before the year is out.
A four-day break is the most Celtic can expect between games before the end o
f November, testing their stamina to the maximum.
But Celtic captain McManus, 26, believes manager Gordon Strachan's controversial rotation policy is about to pay real dividends.
"It's at these times in a season that the big squad is invaluable, and I think the manager knows that he has quality players in every position," McManus told Celtic View.
"I think this is the strongest squad I've ever been involved in at Celtic. The gaffer will look at every player and will be using them all over the next few weeks.
"The SPL is the priority – and while the Champions League might be more glamorous, I know I can speak for everyone when I say that we want to go all the way in the League Cup too."
The defender, who made his first-team debut more than five years ago, added: "In the last couple of seasons, we've had to juggle European and domestic games – and I think we've been pretty successful on both fronts.
"Looking at the team, we've started to hit a bit of form and we're scoring a lot of goals. Personally, I'm just looking forward to all the games that are coming up in the lead-up to Christmas."
Meanwhile, Strachan has lifted the lid on what discussions took place at the third SPL Elite Coaching Forum at the weekend.
All 12 SPL managers, as well as Everton's David Moyes and Burnley's Owen Coyle, joined executive chairman Lex Gold, Uefa technical director Andy Roxburgh and guests for the annual get-together at Gleneagles.
"A lot of it was about the Champions League and Europe, what kind of trends we saw and different training sessions we witnessed," Strachan explained.
"It was great to get together with all the managers.
"We sat and talked about things, laughed about things, about different players and what you have to deal with, the problems players give you.
"You end up finding that we all have the same problems; we all have the same stories, just different faces and different names."
The full article contains 412 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
