Lennon should go with tried and tested in Sarajevo first leg

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Neil Lennon has a number of big decisions to make ahead of Celtic’s Champions League opener against FK Sarajevo on Tuesday night.

The Hoops face the Bosnian champions at the Asim Ferhatovic Hase Stadium, with the return leg in Glasgow eight days later.

Lennon has lots of competition for places, with a number of new and returning players adding to his options. But will he go with the new starts or the tried and tested?

Lennon should go with what he knows in Sarajevo

It probably makes sense for the Northern Irishman to go with what he knows – at this stage of the season at least. There may be a real temptation to throw in the likes of Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo and Christopher Jullien from the start but the truth is that they might not be totally ready to play.

Yes, they’ve trained for a week with their new teammates. But that doesn’t mean they’re ready to go into the heat of battle. Virgil Van Dijk made his Celtic debut in a tough European environment – against Shakhter Karagandy – and struggled badly.

The defender was caught cold in Kazakhstan and Lennon will remember that all too well.

Celtic are best going with the partnership of Jozo Simunovic and Kristoffer Ajer in Sarajevo, and Jonny Hayes should start at left-back too. It may be best to leave Marian Shved out of the game too until he finds his feet.

The likes of Hayes and Simunovic won’t cause disaster for Celtic in the stifling heat, but a new signing who’s not up to speed might. That will be what’s weighing on Lennon’s mind in the build-up to the clash.