Who will feature in the Celtic defence?
A backline poser for Tony Mowbray
With Gary Caldwell now at Wigan Athletic and injuries mounting up, Celtic boss Tony Mowbray will need to juggle around with his back four for the trip to Perth to take on St Johnstone.
Andy Hinkel will surely be straight in at right back and Glen Loovens will find his name on the team sheet in one of the centre half positions. After this, it gets tricky:
Danny Fox is still injured.
Stephen McManus picked up an injury when Falkirk scored at Celtic Park last week.
Lee Naylor has an injury – its not been confirmed if its a perforated eardrum after the crowd’s reaction to his substandard deliveries last weekend.
Mark Wilson – well, you know….
So, that has greatly reduced the options for Mowbray.
Darren O’Dea is likely to be included but the Irishman may be selected at left back, as opposed to his preferred central defensive role.
This means that the remaining centre half role is likely to go to either Josh Thompson or Jos Hooiveld. Thompson made his debut last weekend in replacing McManus but it may be that the Dutch defender Hooiveld is fit to make his debut.
Celtic badly need to toughen up in defence and another re-arranged backline isn’t going to help. However, it is up to the players coming in to stake their claim for the rest of the campaign.
The midfield, you would think, would include McGeady, Crosas, Zhi and McGinn with the front two consisting of Samaras and Fortune.
There can be no excuses for Celtic today, they need to take all three points to start chipping away at the lead of Rangers.
As for the hosts, they look set to be without Colin Samuel but Morais should be able to return. St Johnstone will also be without loan-striker Cillian Sheridan, who is not eligible to play against Celtic.
It is a big game for both teams and the Perth side are no push over at home. There could be another twist in the SPL this Sunday.
Who would you choose for Celtic’s defence?
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Boruc
Hinkel
Loovens
Misun
O’Dea
McGeady
Zheng
Crosas
McGinn
Samaras
Fortune
not one scotsman thats whats wrong with your team
Not enough good players maybe…but Stephen McManus is Scottish and the inclusion of him would not make any improvement to the line-up.
Chris, I don’t even think Misun has returned to full training yet.
When is the last time celtic had a clean sheet in the league?
Sammy you are 100% correct Paul McGowan made the difference!!!!!!!!!!!!
ghghj,
Boxing Day – 2-0 v Hamilton.
Since then, they have played three times.
1-1 v Rangers
1-1 v Falkirk
4-1 v St Johnstone
saints sending off made the difference
Funny how the Dunfermline mascot is taking such an interest in the Celtic games….no doubt scouting for the potential cup tie.
Just like the penalty for St Johnstone appeared to be the right decision, the red card appeared to be the correct decision also.
It should also be stated that the player who received the straight red card had already been booked, so even if he was only booked for the foul on Fortune, he would still have been sent off.
il start again gday theres only one scot mcdonald
We’ve tidied that up for you HS – think thats what you were trying to say.
McDonald certainly has the eating habits of a true Scot – theres probably been a few deep fried Mars Bars post match for him.
fair dinkem weknowsfa yer a good sport