Celtic FC welcome Rangers in the Scottish Premiership on Wednesday and manager Ange Postecoglou will be without a few important players.
This is the first Old Firm Derby for Postecoglou at Celtic Park so he needs to get this one right, especially since the Bhoys are within touching distance of their Glasgow rivals.
The manager has seen the return of some important players over the previous week but some of them are not going to start on Wednesday.
Firstly, Daizen Maeda won’t get a starting role since he was involved on international duty with Japan and at best, he will come on as a substitute.
Postecoglou said in his pre-match press conference: “Daizen Maeda gets in tomorrow morning and we will see how he is. He played 20 minutes for Japan this morning and I haven’t spoken to him yet.
“I’ll have a chat with him tomorrow and see how he feels and he has a chance for the squad but definitely won’t start.”
Tom Rogic was also involved with Australia so he is ruled out while Callum McGregor will be touch and go. Nir Bitton is obviously ruled out after he picked up two yellows during the weekend.
“Nir Bitton is suspended and Tom Rogic can pretty much be ruled out. Callum McGregor trained with the team today, but again we’re not sure about him tomorrow so I’ll make a decision on that later,” the Celtic FC boss added.
▪️ New signings ✍️
▪️ Daizen Maeda 🔙
▪️ Having fans back for the derby 💚
▪️ The title race 🏆
▪️ Could Callum McGregor be fit? 👀Hear from Ange Postecoglou ahead of the Celtic vs Rangers tomorrow, live on Sky Sports 📺 pic.twitter.com/d4EzFEQmDW
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) February 1, 2022
With Bitton unavailable, James McCarthy is going to come into the side and take up the role in the middle of the pitch. If McGregor is not ready to start then both Matt O’Riley and Reo Hatate are going to keep their place as well.
Jota started on the bench in their previous match so he will come into the side but if Daizen Maeda does not start then Abada and 27-year-old Giakoumakis are going to feature in the starting lineup once again.
Celtic FC do not have a great record in the recent Old Firm Derby but if they can beat Rangers on Wednesday then they will move to the top of the table.
