ELVIS SOS AS STRACH FEARS BOBO LEG BREAK

GORDON STRACHAN will today send an SOS to axed Hearts captain Steven Pressley as he waits to hear if defensive giant Bobo Balde has a broken leg.

Celtic's Guinean stopper was stretchered off in agony as his side snatched a 2-2 draw with Dundee United after being two goals down.

Balde slumped to the ground after making a first-half clearance and his manager is anxiously awaiting the result of tests to determine if his right shin has been fractured.

With Gary Caldwell out due to a long-term injury and Stephen McManus playing through the pain of a groin problem every week, Strachan will renew his efforts to sign Pressley when the transfer window opens on Monday.

Celtic have been in talks with the Scotland centre-back for the past two weeks and Strachan admitted that adding to his pool of defenders is now a priority.

He said: "We don't know yet about Bobo but he's in a fair bit of pain.

"He looked like he crumbled after he kicked the ball clear and the problem is on the outside of his shin so we'll have to wait.

"We are running short of defenders now and that is something I will have to think about in the next 24 hours, although I thought young Darren O'Dea was excellent when he came on."

Strachan wasn't pleased with his team's display but believes they were on the wrong end of two penalty decisions, both involving Jiri Jarosik, and a series of dodgy offside calls.

But he was delighted with the way his players fought back from going behind to goals by David Robertson and Collin Samuel.

And he was particularly pleased with the display of Shunsuke Nakamura, whose wonder goal clinched a point after O'Dea had thrown Celtic a lifeline.

Strachan said: "Naka is just a fantastic player. His personality decided we weren't going to be beaten here. The man is a genius and his goal was pure genius.

"I don't know what else he can do other than carry the rest of the players around on his back. He was the one who saved the game for us.

"We didn't play well today and our match-winners weren't at their best.

"But I think we had two penalty claims and there were times when Aiden McGeady was flagged for offside when he was onside.

"The fourth official told me it was physically impossible to watch a player passing the ball and a player moving to receive it at the same time.

"In that case, we would be as well chucking the offside law."

Dundee United boss Craig Levein didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the end.

He said: "I need a split personality to speak about this. I am delighted with the point but gutted it wasn't all three.

"From my own experience of playing here I know that if they get a goal the crowd gets a lift and Celtic can pin you back.

"That's what happened and after their first goal our game plan went out the window and we stopped doing the things we had been doing well.

"We started defending deeper and when you see players with the same colour of jersey around you, you start getting lazy and think that someone else will deal with situations.

"Maybe they got a bit nervous and a little bit scared.

"I thought Derek Stillie did well today and against Hearts. At least his efforts got us a point today. But if we'd had a wee bit more confidence, we might have had three."

Keeper Stillie admitted he was undone by Nakamura's terrific piece of skill but was big enough to heap praise on the Japanese star's contribution.

He said: "I thought I was getting to Nakamura's effort but it stayed up there - it was a great bit of skill from a fantastic talent and it is great to have a player like that in our game.

"He can win you matches out of nothing. At Tannadice earlier in the season he was having a quiet day then within 10 minutes he scored a hat-trick." But Stillie gained United a point with a vital last-gasp save to deny Derek Riordan.

He said: "I got a touch on his effort, it just kind of grazed my thumb and it was enough to spin it on to a post. If it had gone in we would have felt hard done by.

"I was saying to young David Robertson he did very well to come here and score and give a performance like that.

"He sets an example to all the young players here because we don't have a lot of depth to the squad.

"Even at 2-0 up I never thought it was going to be our day at Celtic Park. You know if they get one goal your back is going to be against the wall.

"We'd have taken a point before the game but to have the lead and look comfortable means we're a bit disappointed not to have won."

Taken from the Daily Record