Celtic FC B team coach Darren O’Dea and his young Hoops side are looking forward to the test that awaits in Friday evening’s clash against The Spartans.

The Celts are currently three points behind their next league opponents, who have had an excellent season and are currently pushing for promotion from the Lowland League.

Speaking to Celtic TV ahead of Friday's match at the Excelsior Stadium, Darren O’Dea is expecting his squad to coming up against a physical Spartans team as the Bhoys look to impose themselves on the game.

He told the official Celtic website: “We’re expecting a real tricky test. I’ve had a bit of experience last year as well as this year going up against Spartans.

“They are kind of the polar opposite to us. They’ve got physical players in their team, they know their strengths and they play to them.

“They are direct, they’ll make us defend a lot of long balls – everything will get loaded into our box. So from that point of view it’s a tough test to deny them opportunities.

“If we go toe-to-toe with them in terms of physicality it’s going to be a mismatch. So we have to find other ways of countering that with how we control the game and ultimately, how many times we limit the amount of time they can lift their head.

'It’s actually a really good test. It’s probably similar to some of the games you’ll come up against in Scottish football, playing against teams that are maybe more physically dominant than you.'

“The test for our players is to control the game and play it in our style. I think whoever has the better hold of the game, in terms of styles, will win the game.”

The earlier meeting between the two sides back in July ended in a 2-2 draw, as goals from Bosun Lawal and Johnny Kenny sent Celtic home with a point from the capital.

On this occasions, the Hoops welcome The Spartans to Airdrie. O’Dea is hoping that aspect will have an impact and insists the players are looking forward to the test of going up against a strong team.

“They are a good team,” he said. “Just because they play in a different style, there is no right way of playing football. We obviously have our way, and they have theirs.

“The players will be looking forward to it. We haven’t beaten them this year, so they know how difficult a game it will be.

“We’d like to think that playing at our stadium compared to theirs, the conditions will hopefully suit us more on Friday.

'All the players will be looking forward to it, they look forward to all the games. But I think this is one that they know they will be tested to the limit.'

“The battle of trying to control the game in our style will determine whether we play well or not.”

Last weekend’s draw with Cumbernauld Colts continued the Celts strong unbeaten run, but the late goal from the visitors would have left the squad disappointed to not secure all three points.

Despite being held to a draw, both Stephen McManus and O’Dea were left pleased with the teams showing on the night, particularly when you consider B team regulars such as Bosun Lawal, Rocco Vata and Ben Summers missed out on the game, after their continued involvement amongst Ange Postecoglou’s first team.

The Irishman also believes that the younger members of his B squad who have stepped into replace these players will be even better for that experience, which will help them over the next few years.

He said: “Three of our kind of ‘senior’ players, if that is what you can call them, were missing because they were with the first-team last week. That is the whole purpose of the B team.

“We replaced those three guys with three players who have less experience than anyone in the group.

"So that is our cycle. We don’t work off season by season. We work by day-to-day or week-to-week maximum because ultimately we don’t have a time frame when a player might get taken up to first-team level. Our goal is they get taken up as soon as possible.

“So the results can sometimes mask what is really going on behind the scenes. If you looked at the performance against Cumbernauld Colts, it was a team that everyone that finished the game is eligible for another year, if not two or three years further with the B team.

“And they played exactly how we wanted them to. So when we took this over at the start of the season, looking at where we were at the very start, next year we will be nowhere near the same starting line.

“We will be miles ahead of where we started this year and that is what that game proved to me. The younger ones who come in now know what is required. It’s now about improving and developing that.

“The results sometimes don’t match the performance, but the performance last Friday night was a really solid one.”

Darren O'Dea: We're looking forward to tough test against The Spartans