Two announcements in the next week will help define Celtic’s early season progress

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Two announcements in the week to come will play a big part in defining Celtic’s early season progress.

Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, the Hoops will find out their Champions League qualifying opponents on Tuesday the 18th of June, with the draw for the first and second rounds made on that day.

Secondly, the SPFL have announced that the Premiership fixtures for the 2019/20 season will be announced on the 21st of June.

Draw could affect approach to fixtures

The two announcements could go hand in hand when it comes to Celtic’s early season progress. The Champions League draw could affect how Celtic approach the early league games.

In the past, the Hoops have made changes to their side for league games ahead of Champions League fixtures. That is understandable, but it doesn’t always go to plan. See the 1-0 loss to Hearts at Tynecastle last season for example.

Players may be rested

It will be intriguing to see if Neil Lennon follows in Brendan Rodgers’ footsteps and elects to rest players for games before the qualifiers.

We will get a better idea once the Premiership fixtures are released. If a trip to Ibrox was before the qualifiers, it is unlikely that the Hoops would rest players for that game.

It seems like no time since the Hoops were celebrating winning a third successive treble. In just over a week’s time planning for the season ahead will begin in earnest.