Brendan Rodgers is set for a triple Hampden boost with Callum McGregor, Adam Idah and Nicolas Kuhn all getting the green light for Saturday.
The Hoops trio sat out the 2-0 victory against Dundee but will be back in business for the Premier Sports Cup semi-final showdown with Aberdeen. Rodgers revealed the results of Idah’s scan on the ankle injury suffered at Fir Park on Sunday was more positive than expected.
And his men will be at full strength to take on the high-flying Dons. The Celtic manager said: “All three will be fine. Nicolas has a sore hip after the weekend but he trained, as did Callum and Adam. Hopefully there will be no reaction and they’ll be alright. I think Adam got away with one. He’s still a bit sore and swollen but the medical team told me he’s done some work today. He’s had a bit of luck because he’s an important player for us.”
Rodgers reckons Celtic are in strong shape for Hampden – but he won’t take Aberdeen lightly. The Dons roared back from two down to salvage a draw at Parkhead earlier this month and saw off Rangers at Pittodrie last night. Rodgers said: “Listen, Aberdeen have had a fantastic start. That’s a really good result for them.
“But as I’m sure you can respect, my focus is very much on Celtic. Our guys have made a brilliant start also, in terms of how they’ve been playing, the goals they’ve been scoring, secure defensively in the main and in a really good position in the Champions League. But it’s still so early. My first marker is after 10 games. And if I look at it after 10 games, then we’ve made a really good start. Aberdeen are there as well, but there’s still such a long way to go.
“Semi-finals are always great occasions. I love going to Hampden and we’re in a really good place going there. We’ve got players coming back and hopefully it’ll be a really exciting game.”
Rodgers was delighted his much-changed side took care of business against Dundee last night with Alistair Johnston and Arne Engels notching to break Dundee’s resistance after frustrating Celts for an hour.
He said: “We could have been more comfortable if we scored earlier. We had two massive chances in the first period of the game and if you get those against a team that is resolute, it can open up the game. But I have to be pleased. Guys like Tony Raston and Cameron Carter-Vickers got minutes, Greg Taylor was back and the two wingers (Luis Palma and Yang) came in after not a lot of game time.
“It’s ever easy to get the rhythm when you’d not played a great deal but it was job done. We controlled the game, created chances, should have had more goals and didn’t concede. So, we have to be happy.”
Rodgers made several changes and Celts were not quite at their free flowing best but showed plenty of patience on the pitch – and from the punters in the stands.
The boss said: “It’s the reason for making the changes, to keep the energy and the freshness. And then, obviously, the guys can come in and affect the game. I think the supporters see the team now in a different place. Maybe a year ago there had been a bit of edginess and whatnot. But the team’s in a really good place.”
Dee boss Tony Docherty insisted his men were hard done by with the penalty decision for the killer second goal.
He said: “I was really proud of their performance and I thought they were hard done by for that second penalty. I think there’s a foul on Mo Sylla that leads up to it and I think Antonio Portales touched the ball and he didn’t even know where Kyogo was.
“When it goes to two nothing, that makes it so much more difficult. I thought there was a lot of really strong performances and a lot of good decisions made. We can take a lot from the performance.”