MARTIN O’NEILL is hoping to welcome back crocked duo Kieran Tierney and Kasper Hogh for Celtic’s crucial Premiership clash against St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park tomorrow night.
The Scotland international left-back and the Danish hitman have been missing since the Hoops’ catastrophic 5-1 Champions League play-off exit to LASK in Austria.
Tierney and Hogh have sat out the wins over Falkirk (2-1), Aberdeen (3-0) and St Mirren (2-1), but both have been involved in training at Lennoxtown this week and O’Neill is awaiting the green light to see if they can play a part in Perth.
The Hoops boss said: “Kasper’s been back the last couple of days and Kieran did a little bit of work this morning, first time back.
“Kasper has had the extra day, we’ll see how they are tomorrow morning.
“We’ve also got a couple of other little fitness issues with other players.”
IT TAKES TWO…Kieran Tierney and Kasper Hogh celebrate the Dane’s second goal on his way to a stunning first-half hat-trick in Celtic’s 5-1 win over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.
Colombian hitman Camilo Duran has taken over the attack-leader’s role in the absence of Hogh and the summer arrival from Qarabag has been outstanding.
O’Neill may have to switch the livewire raider back to the wide position he occupied at the start of the season.
That might mean Haissem Hassan moving from right to left to take over from Yang Hyun-jun who will miss the next four outings while on international duty with South Korea in the Asian Games.
Discussing the selection headache, the Irishman, speaking to CelticPlayer, continued: “I’m pleased to have it.
“We’ll see how we’re fixed at some stage or another. When everybody is fit, it’s a matter of trying to get your best players on the field.
“We’ve definitely got better options up front than we did last season. Daizen was fantastic and Iheanacho scored vital goals.
“Between the two of them, they got us over the line in that sense.”
O’Neill added: “However, we now feel as if we’ve got better options and are capable of scoring goals.
“Whereas last season I was wondering where the goals were going to come from.”
WANT TO KNOW A SECRET? Celtic Confidential is the stunning book that brings the exclusive inside stories behind the headlines. Who was the tycoon who would have ruined Celtic? What really happened the night Kenny Dalglish quit the club? The real story behind Mo Johnston’s sensational move to Ibrox. All is revealed in Alex Gordon’s sixteenth Celtic book which is available NOW. Order a copy and get £5 OFF the cover price of £25. Just click SHOP HERE and your book will be on its way. Enjoy the revelations!
