Time for Brendan Rodgers to make changes and utilise Celtic’s large squad

I reckon that there will be a few changes for Celtic for tomorrow’s game at Easter Road…

Tomorrow we head to Easter Road for yet another difficult away trip in the Scottish Premiership.  Yes Hibs were woeful at Ibrox last Saturday, but will undoubtedly be a different proposition tomorrow afternoon on their home patch and their new manager, Nick Montgomery, the A-League side Central Coast Mariners boss, will be looking for his first major scalp in his new job. 

He will have watched the tremendous effort that Brendan Rodgers’ side put in on Wednesday night in the Champions league match against Atletico Madrid at Celtic Park and will know his own squad has been well rested all week and will fancy their chances tomorrow afternoon.

After our midweek excursions Celtic will need to be sharp against the Edinburgh side if we want to maintain our strong lead at the top. We put so much effort into the 2-2 draw with Atletico that more than a few will be suffering from tired minds and bodies.

When Daizen Maeda is running on empty after an hour, you know the rest will be affected!

Brendan Rodgers hasn’t really shuffled his pack over the past few weeks, preferring to stick with his preferred XI, but surely that will change tomorrow.

The likes of Kyogo, Callum McGregor, Matt O’Riley and CCV are stick on starters, but maybe for a few others a well earned rest is on the cards, particularly with a home game against St Mirren looming on Wednesday night.

Reo Hatate is almost certainly going to be missing after suffering what looks like a hamstring injury in the opening stages of the Champions League match.

We could see a start for the likes of Tony Ralston, Nat Phillips, and James Forrest, giving a well earned rest to the likes of Alistair Johnston, Liam Scales and Daizen Maeda who have all played a lot of football recently, both for club and country.

Those changes would mean a starting line-up along the lines of Hart, Ralston, Carter-Vickers, Phillips, Taylor, McGregor, O’Riley, Bernardo, Forrest, Kyogo and Palma.

Maybe not, it’s just my opinion, it might not be those exact players, but I sense there will be a few changes of personnel tomorrow. Brendan will be assessing the players today after their huge effort in midweek and will know who needs a rest and who is good to go.

We’ve been flawless on the road this season in the Scottish Premiership winning at Ibrox, Pittodrie, Livingston, Fir Park and Tynecastle. Getting the three points tomorrow might be the most impressive win of them all for Celtic.

Just an Ordinary Bhoy