We need to make the noise for Bhoys

Luke tells players to step up without fans

- BY FRASER WILSON

CELTIC'S 12th man might not be inside Rugby Park when ref John Beaton gets things under way this afternoon.

But Luke McCowan insists it’s up to the 11 players Brendan Rodgers sends out to face Kilmarnock to bring their own noise and silence the home support.

Having turned the volume up in their protests against the Parkhead board in recent weeks, furious Hoops fans plan to leave the Chadwick Stand sitting in an empty silence for the first 12 minutes of this afternoon's encounter.

The decibels in the away end will no doubt sky rocket after that. But McCowan is hopeful the Hoops will have found their roar by then.

Despite the clamour engulfing the Parkhead hierarchy over the Champions League qualifying disaster and transfer window flop, McCowan is adamant the players are focused.

He insists the off-field aggro hasn't fed into the dressing room. But for all his confidence that his team mates are ready for the challenge, the 27-year-old accepts it’s going to be a strange start in Ayrshire.

He said: “It will, it'll be a lot quieter. I'm sure the Killie fans will be singing and us players will just need to bring our atmosphere as we always do.