Kevin van Veen names the Celtic Park cojones factor key to stopping Angeball as Motherwell hero eyes Kyogo shootout

Kevin van Veen reckons Motherwell showed balls of Steel to stop Celtic getting much of a sniff against the Fir Park men.

The Dutch fans favourite bagged his 24th goal of the term with his sensational leveller at Parkhead – to end Ange Postecoglou’s perfect home record and halt a run of 17 straight domestic wins. Van Veen said: “Celtic are miles ahead of everybody, for me. To go to their stadium and get a point, it feels like a victory. You need to be respectful – but you need to have a pair of balls. You have to come here and not be scared, because if you get scared they will roll you over.

“They smell fear so if you have the ball, you need to try things and put them on the back foot. Sometimes there will be gaps, there will be chances. I thought, 'every time I get the ball I'm going to try something'. If I lay it back – boring! So I think with no fear and a really good structure as the gaffer set us up, everything worked out the way we wanted it to.”

Van Veen didn’t need much of a sniff to strike. He said: “I was lurking and waiting for that chance. I felt like I could take them on when I got the ball at my feet. I thought if I could get (Greg) Taylor or (Carl) Starfelt, there was a chance. (Cameron) Carter-Vickers is less of a chance because he’s the best defender in the league. I ended up against Taylor and thought, ‘This is my moment to take him on.’ I showed him left and right. He gambled wrong, I gambled right, then I slotted it past Joe Hart – an amazing feeling.”

Van Veen is hot on the heels of Kyogo for the top scorer crown and he said: "Kyogo is the best striker in the league. He's the man with the most brains for me, he's clever. Of course I'm trying to put pressure on but all due respect to Kyogo, he's