Tony Watt returns to the Celtic side to face Dundee tonight.
The teenage striker has been left on the bench in recent weeks but gets the chance tonight to re-establish his partnership with Gary Hooper.
Watt replaces Lassad Nouioui in Neil Lennon’s starting XI as Celtic attempt to go seven points clear of Inverness at the top of the SPL.
Lassad is on the bench for tonight’s match with Miku also amongst the subs after a brief return to Venezuela.
Looking ahead to the match Lennon said: “We are playing well at the minute and had an excellent second half on Saturday – a really good, top-quality performance from everyone, and with the likes of James Forrest coming back to the team, he gives us an extra dimension as well.
“The players have acquitted themselves brilliantly so far and we are halfway through the season and obviously we would just like to keep that going now.
“Whether other teams can stay with us, I don´t know, but it doesn´t look like Inverness are letting up, while Aberdeen had a good win at the weekend, so the league is still very vibrant.”
Dundee are anchored at the foot of the SPL but Lennon is taking nothing for granted.
He added: “They have nothing to lose against us and there is no expectation level for them either, so their players, like most teams, will try and raise their game for us. It´s a very dangerous game and one we can’t´t take eye off.
“They were thrown in and it was pretty difficult for Barry. He didn’t have a lot of time as he was basically preparing for the First Division. He is a good young manager and they have done okay, and probably as well as could be expected really.”
CELTIC:Forster; Ambrose, Wilson, Mulgrew, Izaguirre; Brown, Wanyama, Kayal, Samaras; Hooper, Watt
SUBS:Zaluska, Lassad, Miku, Rogne, Lustig, McCourt, Forrest
CLICK HERE Lenny’s winter break- sunshine and signings
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Go for it son. Hes one for the future. More important to keep these boys than superstars that think they can hold the club to ransom
Unfortunately for Tony he didn’t get many chances to shine, the service to the front men was again poor. I don’t think putting Kayal & Brown together in midfield really works. Kayal has been way short of his very best, even pushing him further forward isn’t helping the team. he works hard, closes down quickly but takes 2-3 touches and rarely slides balls into the channels for the strikers.
We need much more creativity from midfield, supply to the frontmen at the moment relies heavily on the full backs which will be noted and closed down sooner rather than later. Much more guile, sharpness required to have any chance against Juventus.
I agree, i think that we should be looking at getting kayals form up for an offer, if we can get interest at 10m again we should jump at it