Jonny Hayes could finally get his big chance to shine for Celtic against Rangers

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Jonny Hayes’ chance to shine against Rangers could happen on Sunday.

The Irishman has thrown himself into relevancy at Celtic over the last three months. Making a total of 19 appearances this term and 12 since February, it’s fair to say Hayes is becoming an important player at Parkhead these days.

But, despite that, chances are he wouldn’t have been featuring against Rangers on Sunday had Kieran Tierney been fit. The Scotland superstar came off against Aberdeen with a knock, and Lennon told the BBC post-match that he would wrap him up in cotton wool.

What that means is that it’s a straight shot between Emilio Izaguirre and Hayes. Surely Lennon won’t feature Tierney given how much he’s been struggling in recent times. He needs to head off for a double hernia operation this summer, and making him a target for Rangers wouldn’t be wise.

And Celtic’s £1million man Hayes is the perfect candidate to step into Tierney’s boots at left-back.

Hayes was given an opportunity to face Rangers back at the end of March. The 2-1 success saw him feature for 45 minutes, before mysteriously being subbed for Scott Sinclair.

The best alternative to KT by some distance

But it’s difficult to see how Hayes doesn’t feature should Tierney definitely miss out.

Rangers could easily feature the pacey Daniel Candeias down the right. Celtic need to have some pace in the full-back position to make sure Rangers don’t get the same joy in those positions that they did back in December.

Hayes playing in that wing-back role down the left would give us that injection of pace we need.

Fielding Izzy instead isn’t a disaster either. But he has proved this season that he’s lost some of the speed he had during his first spell at Parkhead.

Fingers must point to Hayes next Sunday. He’s earned the shot, and has played in Celtic’s last seven matches under Lennon. He’s clearly becoming a favourite of the interim boss, as opportunities continue to come for him.

By the looks of things, he’ll be getting his chance at Ibrox. Unless Lennon seriously wants to take another dangerous risk on Tierney, it’s vital the former Aberdeen man gets his chance to shine in Govan.