Rogic easing into contention

Delighted Brendan Rodgers gave Tom Rogic such high praise at his pre-match media conference ahead of the longest surviving Glasgow derby. He’s is a player who put enormous effort into personal development and was rewarded with outstanding form before his injury in December.

A word of caution, though. It took Tom several months before his fitness was deemed appropriate to last a full 90 minutes by Brendan Rodgers, so no matter how long we see Tom tonight, this will be no more than a staging post in his recovery. Don’t expect him to be anywhere near his best.

There is little reason to deny Emilio Izaguirre and Cristian Gamboa a run out tonight. Mikael Lustig and Kieran Tierney have both had a busy few weeks, so should be rested with important games ahead later this month.

Brendan doesn’t have many options in advanced positions. Without Moussa Dembele and Leigh Griffiths he will probably deploy the same attacking formation as the one which deconstructed Hearts on Sunday.

If they do their job half as well as they did at Tynecastle, you and I could play in central defence and we’d still win.