Jozo Simunovic is set to make his first appearance on plastic as a Celtic player.
The defender joined from Croatia Zagreb two seasons ago but concerns over a knee injury has saw him miss out on Celtic’s trips to Hamilton and Kilmarnock plus any European qualifiers played on artificial pitches.
Simunovic hasn’t played since Celtic’s 5-0 win over Astana on August 16 but with Paris Saint Germain four days away he’ll be in the centre of defence tonight at New Douglas Park.
“Jozo is fit and OK for Friday night,” Brendan Rodgers told The Sun. “He will be playing. He needs to get some games.
“He just didn’t feel he was going to be fit enough to play against Astana but it’s OK, he’s a good guy, he’s a tough boy. It’s just there are some players who find the plastic pitches tough to play on.
“Jozo has been away for a couple of weeks, he’s trained, he hasn’t played, so he’s itching and raring to go now.”
Simunovic spent last week with the Bosnian national squad but never played in the matches against Cyprus and Gibraltar.
Last season he only played in two Champions League matches as Rodgers nursed the defender back to full fitness following knee surgery.
With Dedryck Boyata and Erik Sviatchenko both out injured it’s likely that Nir Bitton or Kristoffer Ajer will play in central defence.
A win at Hamilton will put Celtic back to the top of the SPFL table ahead of Aberdeen’s visit to Murrayfield to take on Hearts.