Celtic will continue their fight for the Scottish Premiership title on Sunday in their away clash against Motherwell at Fir Park.
Brendan Rodgers’ men come into the latest round of fixtures with a point to prove after dropping points at home to Kilmarnock, and it will be interesting to see if the Irishman rings the changes in North Lanarkshire.
Kyogo Furuhashi and Adam Idah have started the last couple of games in a two-man attack for the Bhoys; however, whether they will continue to work in conjunction on this occasion remains to be seen.
Given Motherwell’s robust approach under Stuart Kettlewell, bringing Paulo Bernardo back into the fold may offer Rodgers some additional legs in the engine room if he reverts back to a more familiar shape.
Thriving under pressure is a key component of succeeding at Celtic for any player; regardless, it is now up to the group available to show why they shouldn’t be written off by some in footballing circles.
Last weekend’s performance against Kilmarnock was unacceptable, though there are still 36 points to play for in the race to pip their rivals.
Adopting a siege mentality needs to be the mantra from now until the end of May amid the possibility of a domestic double arriving at Parkhead.
Marc Rieper says Celtic must not give in to ‘costly’ scenario
Former Celtic icon Marc Rieper doesn’t believe that the Bhoys’ main focus should be exclusively on the two upcoming derby matches against Rangers.
Instead, the 55-year-old has urged Rodgers to build greater consistency in the other games, which can inevitably be critical in deciding the destination of the Scottish Premiership crown.
Rieper said [Daily Record]: “Winning the Old Firm derbies only takes you so far. Obviously, they are the ones the fans look for, and of course, it’s important to win them. But it guarantees nothing.
“If you don’t take the majority of points from the derby, then it’s really important that you take almost all of them in the other games. That’s where we did better than Rangers in the season we stopped 10-in-a-row. They beat us twice, and we only won one. But we still won the league.”
He later added: “Celtic having not won the league for nine years was really taking it’s toll as we had to stop Rangers winning 10-in-a-row. Thankfully, it worked out well, and hopefully, they will manage to get back on top before the end of the season this time as well.
“But it’s really important that they now look to win every game that’s left. Not just the derbies. Losing to the lesser teams can be just as costly. “
Marc Rieper has pinpointed Celtic’s main problem
Celtic have dropped points on seven occasions this term, which isn’t the form of a side that is vying to become league champions.
Contrariwise, that is all in the past, and events from here on are all that matter as Rodgers looks to make his first campaign back at Parkhead successful.
At the moment, the Bhoys’ main problem is their inability to see victories over the line in winnable games, though we can still rectify the situation in the final stretch.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
