Celtic welcome Raith Rovers to Parkhead this evening in Scottish Cup action.
Brendan Rodgers’ side mauled Dundee in midweek and are in fine fettle while Barry Robson’s Rovers have been consistently inconsistent in the Scottish Championship this term.
For Celtic it will be vital to win at home with Bayern Munich coming next and momentum necessary for a strong result in the Champions League this coming Wednesday.
The manager has been insistent that Celts would not look any further ahead of their cup tie this evening.
But it must have been difficult with such a massive fixture on the horizon.
- Celtic starting XI: SINISALO, RALSTON, MURRAY, SCALES, SCHLUPP, MCGREGOR, MCCOWAN, BERNARDO, KUHN, YANG, MAEDA.
- Subs: BAIN, TAYLOR, JOTA, IDAH, NAWROCKI, KENNY, ENGELS, HATATE.
Celtic starting XI vs Raith Rovers
One eye would have been on the Bundesliga giants when Rodgers was picking his starting XI for this one and a handful of changes have been made to the starting XI.
Viljami Sinisalo will make his debut with Kasper Schmeichel tweaking his back in training but the Finn is not the only player to be given a crack at a start, in from the cold.
New boy Jeffrey Schlupp and Yang play from kick-off with Dane Murray and Luke McCowan also in.
Jota, Adam Idah and Greg Taylor are on the bench.
How fans reacted to Celtic’s lineup vs Raith
It was always set to be a game for the gaffer to ring the changes and now fans have had their say on the personnel picks.
In particular, Maeda starting up front ahead of Idah was a discussion point.
One commented: “Trying Maeda through the middle… hattrick pending.”
Another added: “Maeda through the middle…”
One fan wrote: “That defence gives me the fear,” as a fourth noted: “Far too many changes at the back for my liking.”
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
