Luis Palma appears to be on course for a place in the Celtic squad for Ibrox.
The winger hasn’t been involved in Brendan Rodgers’ squad since the 7-1 victory over Dundee on February 28 and missed out on the March internationals for Honduras.
Daizen Maeda and Nicolas Kuhn look like the wingers to start the match but if fit Palma could be a very effective substitute.
Signed from ARIS Salonika towards the end of the summer transfer window for £3.5m the winger hit a purple patch of goals and assists in the autumn when he was viewed as the best of the summer signings.
His form had tailed off after the winter break before being hit by injury but late on Tuesday night The Sun reported:
LUIS PALMA could give Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers another major pre-derby boost by proving his fitness for Ibrox.
SunSport understands the £4million winger is ahead of schedule with his rehab from a muscle injury suffered in training prior to the Scottish Cup win over Livingston early last month.
And the nine-goal winger is expected to be involved in training in the lead up to the titanic title clash with Rangers.
If Palma comes through sessions with no reaction then he will almost certainly go into Rodgers’ squad for a game that could see the champions go four points clear at the top – and have their Premiership fate firmly in their own hands for the closing stretch.
At time this season Rodgers hasn’t had much in the way of options on the bench but that could change for Sunday’s match at Ibrox.
If Callum McGregor is fit it could push midfielders Tomoki Iwata and Paulo Bernardo onto the bench with Adam Idah, Yang Hyun Jun, Tony Ralston and Stephen Welsh all capable of going on at Ibrox and making an impact.
Even if he’s all strapped up, CalMac has to start Sunday.
Get him to half-time, or early second half and replace with
Bernardo [?] – who made an immediate impact when he came on
as sub at the weekend there.
Having Palma as another impact sub would be a welcome boost.
Just need to try and keep our 11 players on the pitch though…?