NEIL LENNON has confirmed that he will ring the changes ahead of the Betfred Cup Quarter Final versus Partick Thistle tomorrow night. The Irishman has said that the stars at the heart of the squad are due a rest as he looks to keep Celtic fighting on all fronts, especially as the first piece of silverware this season looms large.
The Celtic manager said that ideally he could play his strongest team every game but that due to the workload that is mounting for the Champions, rotation is necessary.
“There’s a temptation and in some areas a necessity as well. It’s fair to say there will be some changes”
Fraser Forster, who returned from Southampton in August, will be rested in place of Craig Gordon, who Lennon sympathises with due to losing his place to the Englishman. Gordon, 36, has had a tough 12 months with injuries and competition for his place from Scott Bain and Forster. However, Lennon has said that he will take the gloves when Ian McCall’s side come to Celtic Park.
“Craig will play. He hasn’t done a lot wrong but it’s important he gets games and it’s important that we keep him motivated. If anything were to happen to Fraser and Craig is under-cooked then that would be remiss of me. Not only does he need to play, he deserves to play.
“Obviously we have to take a steer on games coming up as well, for the likes of Forrest, Brown, McGregor, Christie, Bolingoli, they have all been playing a lot of football,” Lenny said at today’s Media Conference (see below) , as reported by Daily Record.
The manager also confirmed that Bauer, Jullien and Griffiths were all struggling to make the League cup clash due to knocks and with a deep squad, there’s no rush to bring them back into the fold too soon.
Lubo98
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Legend’s Beautiful Sunday Verdict – ‘I was surprised at how comfortably Celtic won’…see HERE.
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