Celtic manager Neil Lennon has admitted he may have to turn to fringe players over the next couple of matches after a bruising derby victory on Sunday, as reported by The Daily Record.
Both Kieran Tierney and Dedryck Boyata had to be substituted off during the win over Rangers, meaning that while our midfield is returning to full strength, the defence is suddenly looking a little depleted.
With matches against St Mirren and Livingston on the immediate horizon, the manager will have to make changes.
As quoted by The Daily Record, the Hoops manager said about it all:
We will have to maybe freshen things up a little bit. It looks that way yeah. Obviously, we will look to Izaguirre, Simunovic and Benkovic is nearly fit as well. It’s not bad strength in depth and you have the likes of Weah and Burke who will be fresh as well.
I think it’s important to get Ntcham and Callum [McGregor], that’s a good triumvirate there with Broony.
A strong midfield, good balance and it looked that way for as long as Oli was on the pitch really.
Then you had Tom to come on, but we had to change things very quickly with Dedryck going off we had to drop Tom back in an unaccustomed role.
An Ajer and Simunovic partnership in the tail-end of the season now looks likely, with the Hoops having to prepare for life without Boyata and Benkovic next season anyway.
Emilio Izaguirre may also be set for a farewell tour. His contract is up at the end of the season but he now looks like getting a run of games with serious doubts about Tierney’s fitness.
It’ll be interesting to see what Lennon’s next team selection is and all eyes are now on Wednesday night.
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