Kasper Schmeichel will be absent for Celtic’s rearranged Premiership fixture against Aberdeen on Wednesday night.
Celtic’s number one goalkeeper was benched for the Stuttgart trip in the Europa League last Thursday, and Viljami Sinisalo kept the gloves against Rangers on Sunday.
But Martin O’Neill confirmed that it is to continue because Schmeichel won’t travel with the Celtic squad to Pittodrie because of illness.
“Kasper still isn’t feeling great, so I will leave him to recover properly,” said O’Neill. “He wouldn’t be available for tomorrow.”
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Kasper Schmeichel is absent for Celtic because of illness
Many have been calling for Schmeichel to be dropped this season because of his error-prone performances.
But whilst it hasn’t gone the way critics wanted, at least this provides Sinisalo with another chance to prove his worth and knock on that number one door.
Speaking in his Celtic pre-match press conference, O’Neill added that there are ‘a couple of niggles’ in the squad after that Ibrox tussle, without specifying names, other than talking about Schmeichel’s situation.
“We have a couple of niggles,” said O’Neill. “We will see how they are by the end of the afternoon. We will travel up today (Tuesday) for the game.
“Kasper still isn’t feeling great, so I will leave him to recover properly. He wouldn’t be available for tomorrow.”
Will Schmeichel return for Celtic’s Scottish Cup clash against Rangers?
If Sinisalo can keep another clean sheet, as he did in Stuttgart, then it will only increase the noise that he should keep the gloves.
But it seems as though Schmeichel will be back for Celtic’s Scottish Cup quarter-final tie against Rangers at the weekend.
“In terms of illness, I am hoping that I have just the medical side to keep me right,” added O’Neill. “I am hoping that he would be available for that tie.”
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