St Mirren 3-1 Celtic: Lewis Anderson reports from Hampden Park after Saints stun holders to lift Premier Sports Cup
How we think Celtic will line-up against Aberdeen in their latest Scottish Premiership encounter at Parkhead
The Hoops are currently six points behind Premiership leaders Hearts and three ahead of third-placed Rangers, who visit Tynecastle on the same day.
Nancy has already felt the wrath of seething supporters, particularly for his decision to change from a back four to a back three with little time to work on the new formation in training.
Following their 2-1 defeat at Tannadice in midweek, the Frenchman will be determined to stop the rot against a Dons side who have just rounded off their disappointing Europa Conference League campaign with a 3-0 defeat to Sparta Prague in the Czech capital.
What has Paulo Bernardo said pre-match?
Midfielder Paulo Bernardo has urged his Celtic team mates to prove they are still the “best team” in the country, admitting he understands fans’ frustration and suggests they weren’t fully prepared for such a drastic system change under Nancy.
“It's a difficult time,” he conceded. “Four losses in a row, it's difficult for us. We need to change it. It's on us. We need to find a solution to win again. The confidence levels will rise again, we know we are the best team here but we need to prove it.
“We are trying a new system with this new manager, we need to adapt. He believes the system is the best so we need to buy into that and be behind him and put his ideas to work.
“The fans suffer with these losses. It's not easy for them. They dedicate their lives for this club and they want the club to be at the top level. It's a hard time for us but I think we just need to stick together.
“It's not all about the coach, it's not all about us as well but it was a change in our team and we probably weren't ready at the moment. But we need to find a solution right away and try to win the game on Sunday. Even in the worst times we need to stick together, find solutions and do the best we can as a group. We need to win all the games, all the time.
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“These games after losses are always a big challenge and we always want to bounce back but we are at Celtic and Celtic need to win every trophy, every championship, every game. We have to find a solution and change a path of the last few games.
“I’m not going to say like what is going to happen or anything, but I’m focused now to go and get three points on Sunday.”
Who will start for Celtic against Aberdeen?
We are predicting THREE changes from the Celtic side that lost to Dundee United on Wednesday night. Tunisian winger Sebastian Tounekti remains unavailable due to his AFCON involvement, while Celtic are still lacking option in attack with first-choice striker Kelechi Iheanacho still nursing an injury.
Anthony Ralston, Reo Hatate and Yang Hyun-jun are all in jeopardy of losing their spots in Nancy’s XI, with the Frenchman backed to put his faith in forgotten Manchester City loanee Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, who has played just 64 minutes of first-team football since his arrival from the Premier League giants in the summer.
To offer balance as part of a new-look right-hand side, Benjamin Nygren gets the nod to support club stalwart James Forrest in attack.
Taking all of that into account, here’s our Celtic starting XI predicted:
Kasper Schmeichel - GK
Auston Trusty - RCB
Jahmai Simpson-Pusey - CB
Kieran Tierney - LCB
Benjamin Nygren - RM
Callum McGregor - CM
Paulo Bernardo - CM
Luke McCowan - LM
James Forrest - RCF
Daizen Maeda - LCF
Johnny Kenny - ST
SUBS: Viljami Sinisalo (GK), Liam Scales, Yang Hyun-jun, Shin Yamada, Arne Engels, Reo Hatate, Dane Murray, Colby Donovan, Anthony Ralston.
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