Celtic return to Scottish Premiership action this weekend and have a chance to overtake Rangers at the top of the table if they can see off St Johnstone.
Last weekend, the Bhoys managed to navigate past Livingston in the Scottish Cup quarter-final courtesy of some late heroics from Daizen Maeda and Kyogo Furuhashi, and now find themselves tasked with getting the better of Aberdeen at Hampden to reach the last two.
Brendan Rodgers revealed that his side had to deal with an unusually high level of disruption before the tie, stating: “The players deserve credit for that. Some of them haven’t played a lot. Matt O’Riley wasn’t well all week, Stephen Welsh came in at the last minute, Nicolas (Kuhn) coming in after not featuring. There was a little bit of disruption there, but the guys got the job done in the end.”
Of course, our performance against the Lions was marred by notable defensive frailties; however, Cameron Carter-Vickers is set to return to training following his latest knock. As it stands, it is unclear whether the United States international will be fit to start against St Johnstone.
Callum McGregor has been ruled out until after the international break, and Reo Hatate is also absent, which more than likely leaves Tomoki Iwata, Matt O’Riley and Paulo Bernardo to continue in a three-man engine room.
South Korea international Hyunjun Yang is unable to feature amid his suspension, with Nicolas Kuhn or James Forrest primed to start on the right flank.
Craig Levein previews his side taking on Celtic at Parkhead
St Johnstone make the trip to Glasgow looking to arrest a slump of one win in their last six Scottish Premiership matches; however, Craig Levein doesn’t seem to be too phased by the prospect of facing Celtic.
The 59-year-old has vowed to ignore the threat Rodgers’ men pose on home territory, instead focusing on implementing a plan for his own side to cause an upset on Saturday, based on encouragement taken from the Saints’ performances against the Bhoys already this season.
The former Scotland manager stated [The Courier]: “The boys got a draw at Celtic Park earlier in the season, and I thought we played pretty well against them here (McDiarmid Park).
“We had a really good chance to equalise when it was 2-1, didn’t take it and they got a third. We know that they’ve got quality players but if we work hard and stick to the game plan it’ll give us a chance.
“We’ll not go there just worrying about what they can do. If we put on a similar performance to the one here – and take our chances – then we’ve got a chance of taking something out of the game.
“I’m expecting the work-rate to be good on Saturday again, that the players will be conscientious and that they will give their very best to follow the plan.”
Of course, Levein’s teams usually come battle-hardened and aren’t afraid of doing the hard yards, meaning Celtic can expect a physical battle they must be prepared for.
Nevertheless, this isn’t exactly a huge divergence from the types of sides we face at Parkhead on a weekly basis.
Either way, three points is all that counts as Rodgers aims to leapfrog Rangers at the summit ahead of their trip to Dens Park the following day.
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