Celtic make the short trip to Hampden tomorrow to face Aberdeen in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final and Brendan Rodgers has plenty of selection dilemmas on his hands.
Auston Trusty has started the Bhoys’ last seven matches across all competitions amid Cameron Carter-Vickers’ recent injury issues, throwing up one major choice for the Irishman to mull over ahead of Saturday evening’s showpiece.
Does Brendan Rodgers stick with his American pairing, or revert back to the more familiar partnership of Carter-Vickers and Liam Scales? Only time will tell on that front.
In midfield, Arne Engels proved his Celtic point against Dundee by scoring from the spot amid a positive showing in the engine room, but Callum McGregor, Reo Hatate and Paulo Bernardo are also in contention.
Regardless of team selection choices, the Bhoys are still unbeaten this term and will know a victory against Aberdeen in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final will be arguably their biggest win of the campairr so far.
With that in mind, Trusty has given an indication of how the Celtic dressing room are feeling ahead of the battle on Glasgow’s southside.
Auston Trusty on Celtic’s semi-final clash with Aberdeen
Speaking to The Daily Record, Trusty has indicated Celtic are feeling ‘very confident’ ahead of facing Aberdeen and has warned that they won’t let another lead slip following their 2-2 draw with the Dons last month.
He stated when asked what the Hoops have learned since: “To seal the deal. When you are up 2-0 then you want to seal the deal in the game.
“We’ll go in to this game very confident. But if we are in that position again then seal the deal. We approach every game as a challenge so that is going to be the mindset again.
“We don’t take any game easy or lightly. That is about respecting our opponent. But it doesn’t matter who we are playing, we want to go out there and play our game. If we do that, the game takes care of itself. You focus on who you are playing against, but you also really focus on within.”
Trusty later added on playing at Hampden: “I haven’t played there so it will be pretty special for me. Every stadium is a new experience for me here. I am exited for it. I haven’t seen clips of Hampden yet but I’m sure I’ll see some before the game.”
Celtic will want to show they have learned from Aberdeen draw
In their only example of dropped points in the Scottish Premiership this term, Celtic let a two-goal lead slip against a spirited Aberdeen outfit who had to sustain heavy pressure late on to claim a point.
Ultimately, the Bhoys were in command for most of the encounter and should’ve found a way to win, but these things happen in football; it’s the putting it right that counts.
Excitement is in the air ahead of the first Celtic trip to Hampden this term, with the potential to progress to within 90 minutes of another piece of silverware.
From experience, supporters know the club are rather fond of bringing trophies back to Parkhead, so let the fun commence!
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