Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou has discussed the prospect of two potential debuts at Ibrox today for Josip Juranovic and Liam Scales.
Juranovic signed for the club last week but was unable to feature against AZ Alkmaar on Thursday night due to being involved in the Europa League playoffs with Legia Warsaw. He has, however, been training with the squad all week.
Meanwhile, Scales only signed on the dotted line for the Bhoys on Friday. He comes in to give Greg Taylor some much needed competition at left-back.
Postecoglou has discussed the availability of both men heading into today’s huge clash, and it appears that only Croatian right-back Juranovic is likely to make an appearance.
As quoted by the Herald, Postecoglou said: “We’ll assess that. Josip definitely, but Liam has just come in and it’s probably unlikely.
“Josip comes into the calculations. He has trained well with the team and his last game was seven days ago so he is in great condition and is an experienced guy. He definitely comes into contention.
“For the most part that’s why they sign for this football club, to play in these kind of games. I think all the players will be putting their hand up for this game. They will all want to be part of it.”
Celtic boss sound ready to have Juranovic his debut; Scales to wait
It sounds as though Postecoglou is giving serious consideration to the prospect of featuring Juranovic at Ibrox today. You could understand it too given that Anthony Ralston has played all 10 competitive games over the last month. A much-needed rest is long overdue.
And even though Postecoglou doesn’t want to utilise Scales this afternoon, he may want to keep him on standby.
Greg Taylor suffered what looked like a painful shoulder injury against Alkmaar on Thursday. When he gets his teeth into the rough and tumble nature of today’s match in Govan, there could easily be a recurrence of the knock.
Celtic have Adam Montgomery available as back-up, and he put in a fine shift in the Netherlands. However, would Postecoglou prefer to throw him into an occasion like this as opposed to 23-year-old Scales?
There are some big squad decisions to be made today undoubtedly. Postecoglou will need to ensure that everything he does today is the right move. From his starting XI to his in-game substitutions – he needs to get this one bang on.
And it looks as though a debut for Juranovic could be on the cards.
In other news, Ange Postecoglou on how Celtic will handle the last few days of the transfer window
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