Michael Stewart believes Celtic have an ‘interesting’ replacement for Reo Hatate for the Scottish Cup final

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Now that Trophy Day is over, Celtic’s attention turns to next weekend’s Scottish Cup final.

Brendan Rodgers will enjoy the celebrations over the next few days but in the back of his mind the Celtic manager will drift towards the Hampden showpiece final.

Reo Hatate’s injury at Celtic has given Rodgers a major headache ahead of the Scottish Cup final after the Japan midfielder was ruled out this week.

But Michael Stewart believes that there is an obvious replacement for Hatate for the final and says he offers more of an attacking threat.

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Luke McCowan has ‘greater dynamism’ than Celtic midfielder Paulo Bernardo

Luke McCowan has had to be patient this season as he sits behind Arne Engels, Reo Hatate and Paulo Bernardo for a Celtic starting spot.

However, his performances in Celtic’s last two fixtures appear to have helped his case for a starting spot in the cup final ahead of Paulo Bernardo according to Stewart.

Stewart told BBC Sportsound, “It’s always an interesting one for me in terms of when I look at Celtic with the starting line up the other day and Hatate’s not starting and Bernardo is in the team.

“I don’t want to go too down on Paulo Bernardo, but I just don’t see how he gets in ahead of Luke McCowan personally. I think Luke McCowan has got more energy.

“I think he’s got more threat of scoring a goal or setting something up. He just brings a greater dynamism to the side. But there’s obviously other things that go on as well.

“But for Luke McCowan, I would imagine very much in the same vein as James Forrest, they are going to be in the manager’s thinking. And it’s going to be interesting to see what happens with the starting line up for the cup final.”

Luke McCowan’s Celtic season vs Paulo Bernardo

McCowan was a deadline day Brendan Rodgers signing this summer who cost just £1m compared to £3m for Bernardo.

The Portuguese appears to be the preferred starter if Hatate is out of the team but how do both players’ stats at Celtic match up this season?

The good thing for Rodgers is that he has two quality players to choose from and whoever the Celtic boss picks should be good enough to see off an Aberdeen side who are absolutely toiling.