Even though the competition is important, it seems more and more certain that Alex Neil will be fielding a weakened side tonight, giving a chance to the reserve players to force their way into the starting eleven for Saturday.
VALUABLE MINUTES
"I always think that these kind of competitions early in the season are really, really, important. We have some guys on the bench at the moment who are highly unfortunate not to be in the team, and it's for a variety of reasons - some might be because of the shape we are currently playing, some might be chasing fitness a little bit at the start of the season, and some it's just a marginal decision between them starting and someone else starting."
TOUGH CALL
"The difficulty I have when I'm deciding who to start on a Saturday or not start, or who to put on the bench or not put on the bench, sometimes the decision is so marginal. It can literally just be an inkling I have in my head or something like body language in the training session the day before."
HONEST
"The simple fact is that 18 players don't break into 23. I need to make some hard decisions, I need to leave some players out. Sometimes I end up with players who are left out of the squad when, if I was playing in a different manner, they might be starting. That's hard, it's really difficult. All I can do is be really honest and upfront with them and explain what I am doing and why."
READY
"This game gives a great opportunity for some of those lads to play. They might find themselves coming straight in on Saturday, so they have make sure they are physically and mentally ready to do themselves justice and to make sure they don't let their teammates down."
