Celtic lineup vs Hamilton confirmed: Neil Lennon goes big on flag day; fans have their say

By John McGinley

August 2, 2020

Neil Lennon has named his Celtic team for today’s Scottish Premiership opener against Hamilton Academical, per the official club website.

The full match squad is as follows:

Starting XI – Bain, Frimpong, Jullien, Ajer, Taylor, Brown, McGregor, Christie, Forrest, Elyounoussi, Edouard.

Substitutes – Barkas, Bitton, Klimala, Soro, Rogic, Ntcham, Bolingoli, Elhamed, Karamoko.

As expected, the manager has fielded a very strong side for the 4:30pm encounter, looking to go top of the table on the first weekend.

The big call is in goal where he’s persisted with pre-season pick Scott Bain despite Vasilis Barkas’ arrival at the club on Thursday.

It’s been deemed just a bit too soon for the Greek international to make his debut.

Elsewhere Odsonne Edouard starts in attack, supported by Ryan Christie, James Forrest and Mohamed Elyounousssi.

That attacking threat should propel us towards victory.

In midfield we’ll have plenty of bite with Scott Brown and Callum McGregor on hand.

A stable defence of Christopher Jullien, Kristoffer Ajer, Jeremie Frimpong and Greg Taylor rounds out the team.

With incredible depth on the bench too we should be expecting to pick up all three points comfortably.

Flag day is usually an occasion of in-stadium celebration for supporters but season ticket holders will be watching on from home today via the online streaming service broadcast by the club.

Celtic Park will be empty today but tens of thousands of fans will be watching at home / (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

Pundits Jackie McNamara and Michael Stewart will be on hand to provide analysis, with Darren O’Dea on co-commentary duties.

After months of uncertainty and worry, it’ll be absolutely fantastic to see Celtic back in action on a competitive matchday once again.

These fans have taken to Twitter this afternoon to share their thoughts on today’s team…