Celtic manager Neil Lennon has lashed out at the idea of his side’s clash with St Mirren on Wednesday night being postponed for a second time.
The fixture was originally due to be played on August 12th. However, with Boli Boli jetting to Spain and failing to quarantine upon returning, Celtic were forced to see it suspended until a later date.
That date is this Wednesday night. Yet, with St Mirren seeing three players ruled due to the rules surrounding Covid (BBC), the idea of the game being pushed back is always a fear.
But after the Buddies’ game against Hibernian took place yesterday, Lennon wasn’t in the mood to entertain another postponement of his own meeting with Jim Goodwin’s side.
As quoted by the Daily Record, Lennon said: “There’s no reason to think our game won’t be on. Just because two Saints players got the virus, we can’t shut the whole thing down.
“If the rest of the squad is fit and health we’re okay to carry on unless it spreads like wildfire through the club. We have to progress now. We can’t keep stopping and starting otherwise we’ll never get the game off the ground.
“We want to build momentum and make up for lost ground in the league. Potentially, we’ve six games between now and the next international break. Ideally, we want to get our teeth into it now because it has been a bit stop-start so far.”
No signs of a postponement, but the next few days are crucial
With St Mirren playing and losing 3-0 to Hibernian yesterday, it doesn’t appear as though there’s any immediate threat to Wednesday night’s game.
However, that can only truly be answered in the coming days as clubs continue to test their players and see who comes up positive.
It could still be the case that things spread further in Paisley, especially with the area currently being tightened down with more restrictions from the government.
For Celtic, it’s a key few days. We could do with no further positive tests coming out of St Mirren. With a packed schedule between now and the new year, we need this game to be done and dusted.
It would also be much more morale-boosting to narrow the gap on Rangers to three points. It really puts the pressure on the Ibrox side ahead of difficult-looking matches for them at Hibernian and Motherwell respectively.
Wednesday night represents a huge opportunity for Celtic. Let’s just pray the game can still go ahead, because you wouldn’t bank against this Hoops side taking it with their recent form.
In other news, a League One star who Celtic have been impressed with has left his club’s supporters buzzing.
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