MARTIN O’NEILL raised a few eyebrows with his team selection for yesterday’s match against Dundee United at Tannadice.
Striker Kelechi Iheanacho made his first start since limping off early in the Premier Sports League Cup Final loss to St Mirren at Hampden in mid-December.
O’Neill explained the non-appearance of towering frontman Tomas Cvancara who netted the second goal via the penalty spot in the 3-1 victory over Motherwell at Parkhead the previous weekend.
The interim manager revealed the Czech Republic international striker had taken ill after training at Lennoxtown on Friday.
ON THE BALL…Paulo Bernardo in the thick of the action during Celtic’s 4-2 Scottish Cup penalty-kick shoot-out win at Ibrox this month.
However, no reason was offered for the absence of Paulo Bernardo from the matchday squad.
The Portuguese midfielder had come off the substitutes’ bench to replace Benjamin Nygren in the Hoops’ 4–2 Scottish Cup penalty-kick shoot-out success at Ibrox and was also involved against the Fir Park club when he came on for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
The champions were crying out for creativity against Jim Goodwin’s club as they flopped to a dismal 2-0 defeat.
Unless Bernardo was unavailable for whatever reason, the playmaker may have offered a reasonable option on an afternoon when O’Neill replaced his entire midfield of Callum McGregor, Reo Hatate and Nygren in an effort to get back into the game.
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