Coyne out to plug Larsson's guns

Dundee defender Chris Coyne must find a way of stopping Henrik Larsson at Parkhead - but admits he is not sure how to achieve his aim.

Coyne knows that unless his team can stop the Swede adding to his 47-goal tally Celtic's week-long title party will really be in full swing.

Coyne has been paying special attention to Claudio Caniggia in training, hoping the discipline of marking one world-class striker can pay off against another.

But the 22-year-old Australian knows his team's task is not an enviable one and that Larsson is a handful for any defender.

"Henrik is a complete player," said the former West Ham trainee.

"The goals he has scored speak for themselves. He causes trouble for defenders in almost every game.

"For someone who is not particularly tall, he doesn't lose much in the air and he is so good at peeling off people.

"I have learned a lot from marking Claudio Caniggia in training and, although they are different types of players, I hope that will help me tomorrow.

"The aim is still the same. You have to concentrate for the entire game. If you give one chance away someone like Henrik will almost certainly take it."

Coyne sat on the bench while the Dark Blues went down 1-0 on their previous visit to Parkhead this season when Stilian Petrov bagged the winner.

But he was in the team a fortnight ago when Dundee inflicted another defeat on Rangers with a 2-0 win at Ibrox.

That win was one of the major positives from an inconsistent campaign which could yet end with a top-six berth.

Dundee trail Dunfermline by three points with a game in hand, and their goal difference is such that even defeat tomorrow will not necessarily end their hopes - although the Fifers would have to lose at Kilmarnock in the final game before the split on Saturday.

Young striker Steven Milne will miss out through injury, although Fabian Caballero is pushing for a place in the starting line-up after making his reappearance from the substitutes' bench against Kilmarnock last week having missed most of the season with damaged knee ligaments.

With Celtic needing victories against Dundee and St Mirren on Saturday to secure only their second SPL title since 1988, the Taysiders have been written off as bit-part actors in the main performance.

But Coyne has no qualms about that - he believes the Hoops deserve all the headlines anyway.

"We are down at the business end of the season, and Celtic have played so well that you have to expect they will get the headlines," he said.

"Finishing in the top six is important to us but not as important as winning a title.

"This has been an indifferent year for us. We have put ourselves in a position to win games and have not been able to do it and have played well in others and still lost.

"But the manager is in his first season, and there has been such a huge turnover of players that I'm sure it will be a different story next year."