Celtic won’t be welcoming back any injured players for the trip to St Johnstone on Sunday but the Bhoys will be boosted by the presence of Luis Palma.
Palma was suspended for the UEFA Champions League match against Lazio on Tuesday night but will be in contention to start the Scottish Premiership fixture in Perth.
Daizen Maeda, Liel Abada and Reo Hatate remain out of action but Brendan Rodgers has confirmed there are no other injury concerns coming out of the mid-week Rome clash.
He provided that update in a media conference today and has also called on his players to show more threat against Craig Levein’s side than they did against Motherwell in a 1-1 draw last weekend.
The Celtic boss said [Celtic YouTube]: “The demand is to win every game. It was not a great result for us last weekend. We could’ve won the game, should’ve won the game but still could have created more and played with more tempo and more speed in our game.
“We’ve had a good few days training. We’ll do our final preparation tomorrow. It’ll be a similar game with St Johnstone. Craig has gone and used his experience to get them organised. They’ll defend deep and with numbers. We have to have the speed in our game, the tempo, the quality in order to break through that.”
St Johnstone will set out to frustrate Celtic
As Rodgers says, the home side will undoubtedly be set up defensively this weekend to try and prevent Celtic scoring first and foremost. It’s doubtful there will be much attacking ambition – at least initially.
Saints have a win, a draw and a defeat to their name since Levein was appointed in early November. This weekend will be their toughest test to date and it’s on Celtic to prove that during the 90 minutes.
It’s a huge month for the Bhoys and their quest to retain the title. With second-placed side Rangers playing later on Sunday afternoon at home to St Mirren, the pressure must be piled on.
In other news, Another broadcast shake-up for Celtic and Scottish football after failed venture.
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