Ange Postecoglou is a firm believer in the mantra "we never stop" as the Celtic boss nevers lets standards slip.
The Hoops lead the Scottish Premiership title race by nine points and have already secured a Viaplay Cup final showdown with Rangers on February 26. Now Celtic have the chance to progress to the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup when they take on St Mirren at Parkhead on Saturday evening.
The midweek fixtures have taken a backburner for a while with Postecoglou opting for minimal changes last time out against Livingston. His side have had a six days to prepare for the visit of Stephen Robinson's men and he has a near perfect squad to choose from. Back-up goalkeeper Benjamin Siegrist remains the only absentee, after assistant manager John Kennedy confirmed on Friday that Anthony Ralston has been back in training after a six week injury lay-off.
St Mirren are the only team to beat Celtic domestically this season, albeit it was at Paisley, and will provide a tough test to the champions. That begs the question how much Postecoglou will rotate his first XI with the likes of Sead Haksabanovic, Hyung-Gyu Oh and Tomoki Iwata knocking on the door of start.
With Giorgos Giakoumakis departing for Atlanta United in the January window, many fans are keen to see how Oh can step in his place. Postecoglou has an almost perfect success rate from his signings since taking the hot seat in June 2021 and there’s been glimpses from his three substitute cameos so far that the former Suwon Bluewings striker can take on some of the burden left by Giakoumakis.
Iwata has made just one appearance off the bench to date but the centre back could be give the nod against St Mirren alongside the experience of either Cameron Carter-Vickers or Carl Starfelt.
The same applies to Montenegro winger Haksabanovic, who’s last start came in a 2-1 league win over Ross County back on November 12, and has been limited to a handful of minutes late on in games since. He has stiff competition from Daizen Maeda, Jota and Liel Abada for a place out wide but may be given an opportunity to show his worth against St Mirren.
Provisional Celtic squad
Goalkeepers
- Joe Hart
- Scott Bain
Defenders
- Alistair Johnson
- Anthony Ralston
- Cameron Carter-Vickers
- Alexandro Bernabei
- Greg Taylor
- Carl Starfelt
- Bosun Lawal
- Yuki Kobayashi
- Tomoki Iwata
Midfielders
- Reo Hatate
- Aaron Mooy
- Matt O’Riley
- Callum McGregor
- David Turnbull
Forwards
- Liel Abada
- James Forrest
- Kyogo Furuhashi
- Jota
- Daizen Maeda
- Sead Haksabanovic
- Hyun-Gyu Oh
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