Linfield midfielder Stephen Lowry reckons that his side’s 6-0 aggregate loss to Celtic in the Champions League qualifiers now looks respectable after the Hoops charged into the group stages.
The Northern Irish side were back in Scotland at the weekend to see off The Spartans by two goals to one in the Irn-Bru Cup, with Lowry bagging the all-important second goal for David Healy’s men.
The trip allowed him the opportunity to reflect on what was a very different experience altogether playing in front of almost 60,000 fans at Celtic Park, and he thinks their four-nil defeat on the ground is now looking pretty good after Brendan Rodgers’ side dismantled Kazakhstan champions Astana on the same ground.
“We kept the score respectable against Celtic, but they are obviously a level above,” Lowry said.
“We were happy with keeping it down to what it was. I know it was six-nil over the two games, but to us, that was keeping it respectable!
“We are part-time players, so we knew there was a big difference in class. They beat Astana five-nil at home.
“We want to raise our reputation [in the Irn-Bru Cup], because Celtic beating us damaged it a wee bit.
“We want to go far, but we know we will come up against senior teams and full-time teams, and that will be a big challenge.”
Lowry enjoyed the experience of playing at Ainslie Park, although he admits the contrast to his last game on Scottish soil was jarring, especially after an arduous journey to reach Edinburgh.
“It was a wee bit different surroundings!” he said. “And the pitch was definitely different, my feet are sore and I did feel it the last 10 or 15 minutes.
“And we came over on the boat, we didn’t fly because there was meant to have been a game on the Wednesday and we didn’t know if we were going to Glasgow or Edinburgh because the game hadn’t been played yet.
“We travelled six or seven hours on Friday, so it was a long day, then we were up in the morning and straight back after.”
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