HOW TO WIN AN O

Lennon faces selection headache as international break takes its toll on Celtic

AS attention starts to turn towards the first meeting between Celtic and Rangers this season on Saturday, Neil Lennon’s preparations have been hampered by the Coronavirus pandemic impacting upon his playing squad.

Here are three issues facing the Celtic manager as he looks to defeat the Ibrox side and regain top spot in the Premiership standings.

1

Decide who will lead the line

This question very much hinges on two factors; whether Odsonne Edouard is available for selection after his positive Coronavirus test, and which formation Neil Lennon opts to play.

If the French striker is fit, he would ordinarily be the first name on the teamsheet, and even his recent poor form would not likely deter his manager from pitching him in from the start. The 22- year- old has shown in the past that he is a man for the big occasion, and he has more than made his mark on this fixture over the past few seasons, with six goals against Rangers to his name already.

Lennon has stated that his preferred formation is the

3- 5- 2 that has brought him such success as Celtic boss, but he has flitted between that set- up and a 4- 3- 2- 1 this term as Edouard was for so long his only striker that was fully up to speed.

The boot is on the opposite foot now, and if Edouard should fail to recover in time for the game on Saturday lunchtime, Lennon will have Albian Ajeti, Leigh Griffiths and Patryk Klimala all pushing for a start.

Given that all three have managed to get on the scoresheet of late, with Ajeti hitting the ground running since his arrival from West

Ham, Klimala impressing from the bench and Griffiths getting a late goal on his first appearance for seven months in the win over St Johnstone, they will all feel they have a case to be handed a jersey come the weekend.

Ajeti though has only just recovered from a hamstring injury, while Griffiths is still working his way back to full sharpness. Klimala disappointed meanwhile in his only league start of the season in the narrow win at St Mirren, so it is doubtful whether this match is the one Lennon would choose as the time to hand him another opportunity in the starting XI.

If Edouard does fail to make the line- up therefore, it may be a safe bet that Ajeti will lead the line alone, with Griffiths and Klimala in reserve.

2

Wrap the players in cotton wool

As stated above, Celtic may very well be without star forward Edouard for the Rangers game, but they will also definitely be missing Nir Bitton after the Israeli tested positive for Coronavirus too, while Ryan Christie is out as he will still be self- isolating after coming into close contact with Stuart Armstrong – who also tested positive – during the international break.

Meanwhile, defender Hatem Elhamed had to pull out of the Israel squad after feeling unwell and subsequently tested positive for Covid- 19, and will be another signifant absentee.

The current policy from the SPFL appears to be though that unless the local NHS Trust orders an entire squad into self- isolation, as happened recently with Kilmarnock, then the show must go on.

As the Celtic players affected so far have tested positive while away on international duty, and will not return to their Lennoxtown training ground along with their team- mates on Thursday, the champions will obviously hope that the rest of their players will remain fit and well.

From a footballing perspective though, it looks as though they will be forced to take on their city rivals without some of their key personnel.

3

Christopher Jullien must come back into the defence

Again, this decision may hinge on external factors, with Lennon perhaps left with no choice but to pitch Jullien back into the side after his spell on the sidelines through injury, given the positive Covid tests returned by Elhamed and his countryman Nir Bitton.

The big Frenchman hasn’t played since the win over Ross County on September 12th though, and so far in his Celtic career, he has tended to need a few games in quick succession to get up to speed. His manager has acknowledged that fact in the past, calling him a ‘ slow burner’, so he would probably prefer not to throw him into an Old Firm derby alongside Shane Duffy and Kristoffer Ajer after a month- long lay- off if he could avoid it.

Unfortunately for him and perhaps for Celtic, he may have little choice.