GEORGIOS SAMARAS reckons Celtic's back-up Bhoys can handle the pressure of taking part in this weekend's Old Firm showdown at Ibrox.

Hoops manager Gordon Strachan was forced to start with Glenn Loovens, Darren O'Dea and Koki Mizuno in the 3-0 victory over Falkirk yesterday as the Parkhead club's injury problems mount ahead of their clash with Rangers.

No fewer than eight first-team stars were unavailable at the weekend which has forced Strachan to draft in several players who have spent most of the campaign warming the bench.

However, Samaras was impressed with the way his team-mates handled their outing and has every faith in them to maintain the same standards should they be required to take part in Saturday's derby encounter. He said: "You can see that we have a great squad with a lot of quality. Regardless of who is missing we have the right players to cover them.

"We had a large number of players missing at the weekend but we still had enough quality out on the pitch to go and win the game convincingly. So that is encouraging from our point of view and the players who came in deserve a lot of credit.

"Darren O'Dea delivered a great performance against Falkirk and Koki as well. They are lads who haven't been playing a lot but they have the quality to be a part of the group.

"Koki is a great player and it was nice for him to score in his first start for the club. We see him every day on the training field and he has a great deal of potential.

"And I'm sure if they are required to play on Saturday against Rangers then they will handle the situation."

Samaras reckons the most positive aspect of his side's trip to Falkrik was the amount of chances they created during the game, even although Mizuno and Scott McDonald didn't add to his opening goal until the final minutes of the game.

But he said: "It was a good performance. The weather conditions were terrible but I thought we still managed to perform well and play good football even although it wasn't easy.

Meanwhile, Celtic have been assured they won't have to break the bank to land January transfer target Szabolcs Huszti.

The Hungarian winger is out of contract at German side Hannover 96 at the end of the season. Initial reports suggested it would still require a bid of around £2.5m to land the player, however, Strachan has now been informed that isn't the case.

Hannover sporting director Christian Hochstatter confirmed: "At this stage, there has been no offer from Celtic or any other club for that matter. Until there is, what can I say about the matter?

"But, basically, we must consider the fact that Huszti will be out of contract in June. In that sense, it would be foolish not to at least listen to any offers."

One man who could be on the move though is Bobo Balde, with Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish ready to make one final attempt to sign the powerful stopper next month.

Balde has contacted Fifa to ask them to take up his case after Celtic have fined him over £100,000 for various alleged breaches of contract over the past few months.