Uche Ikpeazu’s fitness levels will be up to speed for the Scottish Cup final this month.
Celtic face Hearts in the match that could win the Hoops the treble treble. With everything that’s happened this season, it will be a highly emotional day for the Celtic supporters.
Craig Levein pretty much confirmed today that star striker Ikpeazu will be fit for May 25th. The Hearts manager even plans to throw him into the first game against us on trophy day on May 19th.
That’s not something many will be surprised about. The striker may have tweaked his hamstring against Kilmarnock, but the Hearts manager didn’t seem concerned immediately after the match.
Ikpeazu, meanwhile, has previously been linked with a move to Parkhead. In the past, we’ve given our opinion on how that’s an absolute no-go for Celtic. But even still, the Englishman has a huge point to prove to the Parkhead side.
Celtic are likely to have Kristoffer Ajer and Jozo Simunovic at the back for both the league and cup games vs the Jambos this month. If truth be told, both need to handle him better than Dedryck Boyata has this season.
Uche’s been a pain
Ikpeazu was a huge reason for Hearts’resilience against us at Tynecastle back in February. Neil Lennon’s first game in charge of Celtic saw us win 2-1 in Gorgie. And, with Hearts consistently choosing the direct approach, Boyata was often bullied by the strength of Ikpeazu.
Regardless of how much he doesn’t suit us, he strongly fits Hearts’ style. Not to mention he also assisted the winner for them against Celtic back in August at Tynecastle. He’s proven to be a pain for Hoops defenders this season, and we can’t go into the games against Hearts too complacent about him.
He’s not the best, and is certainly not Celtic class. But what Ikpeazu does do well is hold the ball up and bring others into play, and we haven’t dealt well enough with him this season.
At Hampden in particular, he’ll be Hearts’ plan A, B, and C. If Ajer and Simunovic nullify him, it’ll lead to a simple cup final, and even easier trophy day at Parkhead.
But in order for us to do that, we have to perform better than we have done at Tynecastle against Ikpeazu this season.
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