Early Celtic team news vs Hearts as Brendan Rodgers considers changes, injury update

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Celtic take on Hearts in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday afternoon hoping to extend their perfect start to the season so far.

Brendan Rodgers’ Bhoys have won all five of their domestic tests to date, most recently thumping Rangers 3-0 at Celtic Park.

Paradise is again the venue this weekend. It’s a daunting trip for the Jam Tarts who are not in good form right now.

Steven Naismith is struggling to get anything out of the Edinburgh outfit, losing their last six in all competitions. Their only point this season came at home to Rangers on the opening weekend.

No injury concerns for Celtic vs Hearts

Celtic will have a strong squad to pick from after Rodgers confirmed on Friday that he has no injury concerns going into the weekend.

There had been a worry about Cameron Carter-Vickers after he was pictured wearing a protective boot coming out of the win over Rangers but he has been involved in group training.

Alistair Johnston, meanwhile, is also involved in training. He was sent home from Canada’s international camp early with a hamstring complaint but that was simply a precaution.

Rodgers explained: “Alistair and Jesse Marsch were sensible in terms of how he felt in the game and took him off and sent him back. It was just as a precaution really.

“He felt a little bit but he felt similar going into the Rangers game as well. We were able to protect him. He has travelled and gone away and felt a little bit of tightness in the game. They managed him well. So, we brought him back and he’s trained well.”

Potential Celtic changes ahead of Champions League clash

With Slovan Bratislava on the horizon following Hearts, Rodgers may start to utilise his wider squad more in team selection after a pretty stable start to the season.

Anthony Ralston is a good shout to come in for Johnston while we could also see an Arne Engels debut if the manager is keen to rest Paulo Bernardo or Reo Hatate after trips away.

With Daizen Maeda also travelling around the world, we could see the manager switch things up on the wing, too. We’ll need the Japanese star’s energy for the visit of the Slovakians.