Tony Watt rejoins Gary Hooper

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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