Celtic team vs St Johnstone confirmed; Big absences, TV details, fans react

By John McGinley

December 26, 2021

Manager Ange Postecoglou has named his Celtic team vs St Johnstone in the Scottish Premiership today, per the official club website.

The full match squad is as follows:

Starting XI – Barkas, Welsh, Starfelt, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Bitton, McCarthy, Juranovic, Rogic, Abada, Kyogo.

Substitutes – Mullen, Soro, Bolingoli, Dawson, Montgomery, Moffat, Doak.

It’s another weakened Celtic team for today’s visit to McDiarmid Park, with the Bhoys looking to get back to winning ways after Wednesday night’s disappointing draw.

Vasilis Barkas comes into the team after an injury to Joe Hart and an unknown issue suffered by Scott Bain.

There’s also no Callum McGregor in the squad. Nir Bitton is captain for the day. Anthony Ralston is also absent.

The good news is that Kyogo Furuhashi does come back into the starting line-up after his blockbuster efforts in last week’s League Cup final.

Hopefully, the manager can fill us in on what’s up with some players in the team ahead of the game.

Broadcast details

Today’s match is not on the Pass To Paradise service as it takes place away from home.

Celtic TV will be providing live coverage to subscribers worldwide outside of the UK & Ireland.

Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Football and Sky Showcase will all be showing the game live.

BBC Radio Scotland will also be providing live audio commentary.

Fan reaction to Celtic team vs St Johnstone

As you can imagine there’s a fair bit of anxiety about today’s makeshift team. Postecoglou is limited by the players available to him but it’s not the strongest eleven of the season.

Thankfully there’s enough quality in the starting eleven to get the job done today, but expect another hard-fought encounter against a defensively-minded side.

These fans have taken to social media to share their thoughts on it all…

In other news, Former Celtic Bhoy set for dramatic transfer switch to Scottish Premiership side.