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Five players that will step in and finish off Lincoln Red Imps

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4739349There is a massive clamour for changes to be made to the Celtic side that faces Lincoln Red Imps on Wednesday.

Tuesday’s first leg defeat was a step too much for many supporters and a reminder that most of the under-performers with Ronny Deila are still with the club.

Even Kieran Tierney came in for some criticism when generally the teenager and Leigh Griffiths have been exempted from the fall out of previous disasters.

With the transfer window closed as far as this round is concerned Brendan Rodgers will have to work within the group that he inherited from Deila during the summer.

Midfield is the area where Rodgers has most options. Whether using three or four players there are plenty of possibilities to explore with many fans running out of patience with club captain Scott Brown.

Regardless of who is dropped surely there must be a place found for Callum McGregor. The midfielder made the breakthrough exactly two years ago but disappeared almost as quickly as he arrived on the scene.

Under Deila, McGregor scored away against Maribor and Legia Warsaw, in his comeback appearance last season he scored against Ajax but that strike was just another false dawn in a forgettable Europa League campaign.

His ability to pick out a shot and push forward with the ball could be priceless against the defensive banks of Lincoln Red Imps players.

There are plenty of moaners around when McGregor is selected but he has all the attributes to succeed either as a traditional central midfielder or pushing forward into attack where his scoring instinct in superior to any other midfielder that is available to Rodgers.

Go to the top of this article to view the gallery of the other players that will see off Lincoln Red Imps.

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Little has been seen or heard of Liam Henderson

since he returned from his loan spell at Hibs.

With Deila overloaded with midfielders a season long loan with Alan Stubbs side was the perfect solution giving Henderson experience and time to develop his game.

There was plenty of big match experiences for the 20-year-old to enjoy- signing off with a significant contribution to the historic Scottish Cup win at Hampden.

Players react to circumstances and opportunity. Henderson has packed a lot into his career already- if he is given the call on Wednesday night there is no reason to doubt that he’ll rise to the task and deliver the goods.

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Eoghan O’Connell had two loan spells cut short by injury last season

but is back to full fitness and involved in the four match tour of Slovenia.

His emergence co-incided with the arrival of Jason Denayer on loan and there could be no real argument from him about breaking up the Denayer-Virgil van Dijk partnership.

When Gordon Strachan took over from Martin O’Neill he discovered that Stephen McManus was ready to step up and solve a problem with O’Connell now in a similar position for Rodgers.

In his only top team outing last term, early in the season at Tannadice, the bhoy from Cork strolled through the game with something to spare as Celtic enjoyed a comfortable win in-between the Malmo ties.

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The absence of Patrick Roberts in the first leg

will remain a mystery to those that watched his contribution to last season’s title win.

Matching his undeniable skills with a sure touch around goal the Manchester City winger is at Celtic with the specific target of attaining Champions League football.

Against a team of part-timers not used to playing on a perfect grass surface the stage should be set for Roberts to showcase his ability and take Celtic closer to the promised land.

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Darnell Fisher enjoyed a productive loan spell at St Johnstone

last season but finds himself in a four way fight for the right-back position at Celtic.

Reverting back to his original role as a central midfielder Fisher has the tenacity to go into the first team and create the same sort of impact that Kieran Tierney achieved last season.

In his limited first team appearances Fisher hasn’t did much wrong, given the opportunity he could nail the position down despite the higher profile competition of Mikael Lustig and Saidy Janko.

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