Wilfried Nancy has named the same starting eleven in both of his Celtic matches.
Luke McCowan isn’t in it, so he has only played 30 minutes under his new manager, coming on for Sebastian Tounekti in the 2-1 defeat to Hearts.
Nancy hasn’t got off to an ideal start, but form goes out the window for a cup final. If he can beat St Mirren on Sunday, he will go a long way to getting his Celtic spell off the ground.
As a tidy midfielder with secure technical ability, McCowan is certainly a player who would suit Nancy’s system on paper.
So he’s hoping to get some action at Hampden, having not been involved in last season’s League Cup final due to being cup tied.
Does Luke McCowan make your starting XI for Sunday’s cup final?
Luke McCowan on Celtic’s cup final vs St Mirren under Wilfried Nancy
As a result of his lack of involvement in last year’s tournament, McCowan doesn’t have a winners’ medal.
Celtic beat Rangers in a heart-stopping final which went to penalties – if we could avoid the same drama on Sunday, that would be nice.
READ MORE: Wilfried Nancy addresses rumours that Stevie Woods is leaving Celtic
In McCowan’s eyes, anything will be better than last year as long as he’s involved.
He said: “Hopefully I’m not watching again…
“But I’m just excited to be a part of it this time and actually be on the bench, or starting. It’s just about being able to have the opportunity to help the guys go and lift the trophy.
“It gives you that extra motivation this time to make sure that we defend our trophy.
“But last year, I couldn’t watch it, it was horrible. Especially because at that point I got to know everyone and you’re properly part of it.
“You’re not just a fan watching or whatever. It was horrible to watch. I was just wanting to be out there and helping them and wanting to be part of it.
“I’m glad that I’m able to do that this year.
“You don’t want that feeling ever again. It’s such a horrible feeling knowing that you’re leaving the stadium without it.
“That’s what we’ve got to make sure doesn’t happen this time. But to do that, we need a good performance, and we need to stick together and just go and try to win the game as best we can.”
Name your Celtic front three for Celtic’s cup final against St Mirren…
Luke McCowan’s Celtic season so far
McCowan scored Celtic’s first goal of the season – ironically against St Mirren. It wasn’t the Hoops’ only late winner this season.
He also scored in the quarter final of this competition against Partick Thistle. Celtic have had a different manager for the quarter-final, semi-final and final of this competition…
McCowan said that he was ‘scared’ to speak to Martin O’Neill when the Hoops legend arrived on an interim basis.
But eventually, he broke into his starting XI, being used as a makeshift right-winger in that 2-1 win over Feyenoord in Rotterdam.
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