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Martin O’Neill has named his starting line-up to face Kilmarnock in their latest SPFL Premiership match at Celtic Park.
The Celtic boss has named his starting XI and subs to face the Ayrshire side in their 11th match of the season.
After their Danish nightmare on Thursday night, Celtic have the opportunity to bounce back against Kilmarnock in what will be their last match before the International break. The Hoops currently sit nine points behind Hearts, with a game in hand on their Edinburgh rivals. In what could well be Martin O’Neill’s last game in charge, the veteran coach will be hoping to bow out with a victory.
However, it won’t be a pushover against a well-organised Kilmarnock side, who were drawing with the Hoops right up until the last minute in September, before a Kelechi Iheanacho penalty scunnered them. After a decent start to the season, Killie have lost their last four games on the bounce.
Team news: Forgotten man makes first Hoops appearance, Ralston dropped after Danish nightmare
O’Neill has made FIVE changes to the side that lost to Midtjylland with the most notable of which being Jahmai Simpson-Pusey coming in for Anthony Ralston. It will be the Manchester City loanee first competitive match in a hoops jersey.
Elsewhere Kieran Tierney has made way for Marcelo Saracchi as they continue to rotate. Luke McCowan and Reo Hatate come in for Benjamin Nygren and Arne Engels, who both also struggled in the Midtjylland defeat.
In the final third, Johnny Kenny keeps his place despite hardly getting a touch in midweek. Daizen Maeda looked sharp when he came on for James Forrest and has now replaced the veteran winger in the starting XI.
What Martin O’Neill has said pre-match
The Celtic boss is insisting he’s taking one game at a time and that if it is his last game, he’s happy with what he’s achieved during his short stint. He said: “my situation remains the same. The minute the board will say to me they’ve got someone in place, I’m absolutely fine with that. That was always the intention in the first place so that (Euro defeat) doesn’t alter anything.
“I knew these games would be very hard when Dermot called me. I had a look at the schedule and thought, that’s four games in very quick succession – a game away from home in the Europa League and the matches here – so my focus is genuinely just on Sunday now.
“If Sunday was to be my last game, that is absolutely fine with me and if they announced a new manager on Monday or Tuesday morning, that’s fine. Getting back to the thoughts on legacy, it really wouldn’t bother me. But do you know was delighted me, though, we did beat Rangers so I can always mark that down.”
Celtic vs Kilmarnock line-ups
Celtic starting XI: Schmeichel; Simpson-Pusey, Trusty, Scales, Saracchi; McGregor (C), Hatate, McCowan; Maeda, Tounekti, Kenny.
SUBS: Sinisalo, Ralston, Murray, Tierney, Nygren, Engels, Balikwisha, Yang, Yamada.
Kilmarnock starting XI: Beach; Brown, Williams, Stanger, Deas, Thompson; Lowery, Watson, Lyons (C); Tiffoney, Anderson.
SUBS: Armour, Brannan, John-Jules, Polworth, Dackers, Watkins, Kiltie, Leslie, Schilte-Brown.
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