Before Brendan Rodgers spoke to the media this afternoon, Sky Sports Scotland caught up the Irishman ahead of tomorrow’s Scottish Premiership fixture against Ross County up in Dingwall…
The soon to be 4IAR Scottish Champions side are now 15 points clear in the league with considerable breathing space between themselves and their nearest challenger, even after their Dead Rubber Glory just over a week ago.
Unenviable task in the Highlands
The unenviable task of winning in the Highlands now awaits Rodgers and his men as they aim to increase their lead at the summit of Scottish football to 18 points, with theRangers not playing until after us this weekend when they face-off against St Johnstone at Ibrox on Sunday afternoon. The pressure could be heaped onto under fire Belgian, Philippe Clement, if the Hoops do extend their lead before his hapless side do battle with the Saints the following day.
St Johnstone and Ross County are now the only two sides in the Scottish Premiership who have yet to take points off Clement’s inconsistent outfit and the Saints would dearly love to leave the Highlands on that list on their own on Sunday afternoon at Ibrox, where the atmosphere is threatening to turn ugly.
Difficult in Dingwall in freezing conditions
Firstly though, Celtic will have to dispatch the Staggies to make that scenario become reality. County are notoriously difficult to breakdown sometimes, particularly at home and with the weather conditions being as they are, they might fancy their chances of getting something tomorrow against the former Liverpool manager and his untouchable team. We’ve seen it before in the past how these games can on occasion get away from you and the whole team will have to be at the races tomorrow for this one.
Rodgers confirmed this afternoon though that there are several big doubts for tomorrow’s showdown in Dingwall, with Daizen Maeda and Nicolas Kühn looking unlikely to be involved.
Daizen Maeda and Nicolas Kühn miss out
When asked by Gordon Duncan if everyone was “fit and raring to go,” the Irishman replied: “No, we’ve got a couple of sort of doubts for this game. Both our wingers, Daizen Maeda and Nicolas Kühn miss this one. So we’ll have to wait and see on that one.”
James Forrest and Luis Palma also out
With James Forrest injured and Luis Palma confirmed to be out for to a family bereavement too, we are looking very light in those wide forward areas and will have to be creative come kick-off time. What Rodgers will go for is intriguing to say the least and it will be really exciting to wait and see what the manager comes up with in his tactical arsenal to down Don Cowie and his determined side tomorrow afternoon.
Opportunity knocks for Daniel Cummings and Johnny Kenny
Both Daniel Cummings and Johnny Kenny have been training with the first team this week and both are likely to be on the coach to Dingwall. The Celtic B team game tomorrow has already been postponed due to a frozen pitch so this could be a perfect opportunity for Brendan to see what these two young forwards can offer to the first team.
Paul Gillespie
🗣️ “We are 15 points clear because we have been so consistent.”
Brendan Rodgers says there will be no complacency at Celtic as he reveals Maeda and Kuhn are doubts for the trip to Ross County, with Palma and Forrest already out ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/BQAKL40m87
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) January 10, 2025
