Speaking to The Scottish Sun, Neil Lennon has confirmed he is set to make big changes to his Celtic team for this Tuesday’s match away to Estonian champions Nomme Kalju.
The Hoops built an impressive 5-0 lead in the first leg at Celtic Park.
Lennon now sees the return affair as a perfect chance to build some fitness in the legs of his players.
Three have been directly mentioned as likely to come in, with more changes surely made beyond that.
As quoted by The Sun, Lennon said: “I’d like to give some players a rest if we can and it is certainly an opportunity to do that.
“I’d imagine that Christopher Jullien will probably play. He has a great chance of starting. It is an opportunity of getting a good 90 minutes into him to get him up and running.
“Lewis Morgan and Scott Sinclair, too, we will look at the squad.”
Who’s most likely to be rested?
Nir Bitton should be given the night off ahead of next week’s league opener versus St Johnstone. He could be needed badly for that one.
Lennon has confirmed Jullien will be missing for the Scottish Premiership clash. That means there is no reason not to play Jozo Simunovic, who is also out of the Saints match, alongside the Frenchman in Estonia.
Elsewhere, it sounds like James Forrest will also be rested. Lennon mentions both Morgan and Sinclair as potential starters. They could feature on both flanks and give the Scotland international more preparation time for next weekend.
Another who needs a bit of downtime is Odsonne Edouard. He’s a player who has worked tirelessly for the team throughout the first half of 2019. The 21-year-old been so consistent in the absence of Leigh Griffiths but, now the striker is back, Edouard can sit this one out and be fresh for flag day.
The midfield shouldn’t be changed too much but Olivier Ntcham is also available to come in for Callum McGregor or Scott Brown. Both midfielders should not be overused in lesser fixtures given the duo’s importance when the big matches come.
Lennon’s squad must be utilised smartly this season. Especially in the early stages. The depth throughout the squad is still not quite there and being caught short in tougher European tests than Nomme Kalju could be damaging.
As you’d expect, the manager is right on top of it and it’ll be interesting to see what team he fields on Tuesday night.
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