Andy Walker on Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic cup final line-up calls with ‘terrific’ star primed for start

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Brendan Rodgers has plenty of selection dilemmas to wade through ahead of Celtic’s Premier Sports Cup final clash with Rangers on Sunday.

Competition for places across the squad is vast, with cases to be made for several individuals to get the nod at Hampden amid the Bhoys’ excellent recent form.

However, Brendan Rodgers is the man charged with navigating the situation and will feel satisfied with the depth at his disposal after Celtic’s transfer spend exceeding £30 million in the summer.

The Irishman could add further stock to his pool of talent in January, with the likes of Ajax midfielder Benjamin Tahirovic being lined up for a Parkhead switch.

Before any recruitment decisions come to light, Andy Walker has given an insight into how Rodgers could handle his Premier Sports Cup final selection dilemmas.

Andy Walker on Celtic’s cup final selection decisions

Speaking on the Go Radio Football Show, Walker admitted that he would like to see Greg Taylor start over Alex Valle at left-back and also talked up Paulo Bernardo’s chances of being involved.

He stated, when asked who could start: “I always prefer Taylor. I think he’s a terrific player for Celtic, I think his killer passes time and time again is offering Celtic something different even in that middle to front.

“I think he still defends well. It’s interesting that Bernardo got the nod the other night ahead of Engels, someone who’s cost so much money.

“You’d imagine he’s of been playing in most of, if not all the Champions League games, but I just think it highlights the strength of Brendan Rodgers’ squad.”

Celtic have plenty of options to tackle Rangers this weekend

Sometimes, there can be a panic that sets in heading towards a cup final, depending on the drop-off between first-team starters and squad players.

Nevertheless, Celtic have already shown this season that they possess far more than just a talented batch of starters. On a regular basis, substitutes have been the ones to make the difference both domestically and in Europe.

Ultimately, supporters won’t be too fussed on who starts as long as they get the job done at Hampden on Sunday!