Scottish football: Jansen pleads for patience

Celtic's head coach, Wim Jansen, yesterday urged his players to show some patience against Dunfermline Athletic in today's top Premier Division fixture - although he admitted it was a quality unlikely to be in evidence from the Parkhead faithful.

In his first home league game in charge, Jansen plans to reap three vital points in the wake of the opening 2-1 loss to Hibernian at Easter Road a fortnight ago. The Dutchman feels his side may need to bide their time to achieve victory, blaming a lack of calm as the main cause for Tuesday's 2-1 Uefa Cup defeat away to Tirol Innsbruck.

"I am keen for us to continue to establish our own style of playing, which we were a long way from achieving during the first half in Austria," Jansen said. "After the break we were closer to the way I want us to play. When everybody played in their position we were more comfortable, with more options in attack. I don't expect the crowd to be patient [against Dunfermline] because they always want you to win well, but we must be relaxed."

Stephane Mahe, forced off at half-time against Tirol with a rib injury, is unlikely to play today, while Alan Stubbs and Morten Wieghorst are doubtful.

Despite their unfortunate experiences with Jorge Cadete, who is languishing in Lisbon suffering from stress, Celtic are pursuing another Portuguese striker. They have made a pounds 1.5m bid for Sporting Lisbon's Paulo Alves, and are also chasing the Hamburg goalkeeper, Richard Golz. Cadete, despite his alleged health problems, has been having talks with the Spanish First Division club Celta Vigo.