TOM ALDRED is hoping to do outdo his good friend Josh Windass against Celtic this weekend by recording a win over the champions.

The Motherwell defender played with the Rangers attacker at Accrington Stanley before the pair moved north of the border, and he is taking inspiration from the tough game that Windass’s side managed to give Celtic last Sunday.

But while Rangers ultimately fell short, Aldred is hoping to help Motherwell stun Brendan Rodgers’s men when they welcome them to Fir Park tomorrow.

“I was buzzing for him when he scored,” Aldred said.

“I was chatting to him the night before, but I just watched it on the iPad because I haven’t managed to get Sky Sports up here yet. It was a good game and we are well aware of what we will be coming up against.

“I was actually supposed to be going to Josh’s place this week for food but he cancelled on me! I speak to him just as a mate and did so before coming here.

“He says the Old Firm games are a different level and you can see that when you watch them. He’s said about Celtic’s threats and what they are good at, but you know that anyway.

“We can all take inspiration not just from Josh, but from what Rangers did last week. They caused Celtic problems and if they had dealt with different situations, maybe they could have won the game.

“We’ve just got to go into it with a positive mindset. Hopefully, we can go one better. We saw last week that even when Celtic are behind, they find ways to get back into it. Then they go on and get the win with ten men.

“Obviously, Celtic are on television a lot so I was very familiar with their players even before I came up here. You know what they are capable of. As a defender, it is probably the toughest game you can play, but it is one we are looking forward to.”

Aldred is looking forward to pitting his wits against Moussa Dembele, who looks to once again be finding his imperious best form over the past few weeks.

“You know what you are going to come up against and you want to test yourself against players of that calibre," he said.

“In terms of the best strikers I have played against so far, I would probably stay that Callum Wilson is one of them. He had at it all and is obviously now at Bournemouth. But I will be looking forward to playing against Dembele.”

The combative centre-half admits that the game against Celtic can’t come soon enough as the Steelmen look to get the disappointment of last weekend’s Lanarkshire derby defeat to Hamilton out of their systems.

“We are obviously disappointed with the way last weekend went, especially with our recent form,” he said. “But this is a big game to respond in and we have been good at home.

“We definitely don’t need any extra encouragement. You are always well up for a game when a team like Celtic comes to play. We are all looking forward to trying to get a result.

“It will be the first time I have played against Celtic. Individually and collectively, it is a chance to test yourself against the country’s best. We feel as a team that we are more than capable of getting a result.”