Celtic return to domestic action this afternoon with the short trip along to Paisley. Last time out on league duty for Ange Postecoglou’s team saw a 4-0 win over theRangers at Celitc Park before the postponement of the game against Livingston paused the Celtic monentum but only temporarily.
Celtic dropped two points at Paisley just before Christmas but the Celtic side from that match will be radically different today and with significantly more fire-power at the manager’s disposal. Ange Postecoglou will be targeting a comprehesive win to store the five points lead at the top of the league, looking down on theRangers…
Team News
Last weekend Ange Postecoglou was planning to utilise his squad ahead of the Champions League trip to Warsaw to play Shakhtar Donetsk in Warsaw. That wolud have meant that the team facing LIvingston would have looked something like the side that started against Ross County in the League Cup at the end of last month with the likes of Ben Siegrist in goals, Anthony Ralston, Stephen Welsh and Alexandro Bernabei in the back four, and the likes of Aaron Mooy, James Forrest and maybe James McCarthy getting a game.
Reo Hatate during the UEFA Champions League group F match between Shakhtar Donetsk and Celtic FC at The Marshall Jozef Pilsudski’s Municipal Stadium of Legia Warsaw on September 14, 2022 in Warsaw, Poland. (Photo by Adam Nurkiewicz/Getty Images)
That match was called off due to the death of the Queen and for today’s game given that there’s no midweek action to consider from a club point of view., the likelihood is that the current strongest eleven will feature today against St Mirren.
At Friday’s pre-match Media Conference Ange gave a squad update for today’s game. “At this stage, everyone is fine from Wednesday night. No issues coming out from that. James McCarthy missed Wednesday night as he was ill, but he was back training today. Carl Starfelt is still out until after the international break. Everybody else should be OK.”
Jota on the wing during the UEFA Champions League group F match between Shakhtar Donetsk and Celtic FC at The Marshall Jozef Pilsudski’s Municipal Stadium of Legia Warsaw on September 14, 2022 in Warsaw, Poland. (Photo by Adam Nurkiewicz/Getty Images)
On the squad rotation option that was set to be utilised last weekend Ange explained his plans for that game, on Friday afternoon. “We have been kind of building towards something, and with last week’s game getting called off, there was probably a rotation in there for some of the players who haven’t played, and we would have come out of this first group of games with everyone getting some decent game time.
“That sort of never happened, but we know after the international break that we will have 10 or 11 games in the space of 34/35 days, so we are going to need everybody, and there is no doubt the team will change through that process. It is about having everybody ready, and we have begun that process.
Matt O’Riley controls the ball during the UEFA Champions League group F match between Shakhtar Donetsk and Celtic FC at The Marshall Jozef Pilsudski’s Municipal Stadium of Legia Warsaw on September 14, 2022 in Warsaw, Poland. (Photo by Adam Nurkiewicz/Getty Images)
“I think during the Ross County cup game, I made nine changes, and the level of that performance was excellent on the night and would probably have done something similar last weekend. We are still gearing up for what’s ahead and what’s ahead is that we are going to require a really strong squad of players, and we won’t be able to rely upon 11 or 12 to get us through it.”
Expect the team to line-up to face St Mirren today to look something like this…
Celtic players and coaching staff all wore black armbands on Wednesday night in the Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk in Warsaw. Photo: Beata Zawadzka/East News
Kick Off Time
The game kicks off at 12 pm (Celtic Park time).
Where to Watch
The match is live on Sky Sports and for supporters outside of Britain and Ireland it is also live on Celtic TV for subscribers to the club’s own channel.
Come on Celtic!
