Celtic begins final push

Soccer Betting Lines

05/01/2009 - Aberdeen, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Scottish Premier League season enters its final stretch this weekend as Celtic travels to Pittodrie Stadium on Saturday to meet Aberdeen with a one-point lead on second-placed Rangers.

Celtic is searching for its fourth straight SPL title, but with five games to play, Celtic captain Stephen McManus is calling on his teammates to rise to the occasion.

"We are one point ahead just now but we're looking upon these games as five of the biggest we will ever play in," said McManus.

"It's important to take them one at a time. We have to give everything for the cause and for each other. That's what you need to do to win titles for Celtic.

"This is going to be another tough game on Saturday against Aberdeen but we're more than ready for the challenge.

"We have five games and we're more than capable of winning all of them. Likewise, Rangers are capable of winning them all."

Celtic has won three of its last five games with two draws, but Rangers has won four of five in that time to trim the deficit to a single point, backing up the claim of McManus.

The Hoops will be returning to the site of their last loss in league play on Saturday, which came at Aberdeen in 4-2 fashion in January.

However, Gordon Strachan's men have won six games and drawn five since the setback and they will be hoping to avoid a similar fate on Saturday.

The Dons have gone in the opposite direction since beating Celtic with just two wins in their last 11 games.

Their poor run of form has dropped Aberdeen into fifth in the table, but they are still only one point behind fourth-placed Dundee United, and could very easily grab a spot in Europe with a good finish.

Celtic will be missing Scott Brown for the match because he is out through suspension, while Barry Robson, Georgios Samaras and Darren O'Dea are each sidelined with injury.

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Calderwood will be without the suspended Lee Miller, while injuries have robbed the Dons of Darren Mackie, Zander Diamond, Derek Young and Jamie Smith.

Rangers will look for its fifth successive win in the league when they host Hearts on Sunday, while the rest of Saturday's action includes Motherwell traveling to Falkirk, Hamilton hosting Kilmarnock, Dundee United invading Hibernian and St Mirren playing host to Inverness.

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LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

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