Rest Rogic through the international break

The goal Livingston scored to defeat Celtic in September was their solitary strike in a run of six games.  Since then, form has bounced, they won 0-3 at St Johnstone, 2-3 at Ross County and drew 1-1 at home to Dundee United.  Notwithstanding that, I expect a backlash from Celtic tomorrow that goes someway to resolving the awful performance we put in at the Plastic Pasta Pitch.

Not so long ago, the persistent rain that has fallen on Scotland this week, would turn pitches into quagmires, unfit for precision passing.  By contrast, a soaking Easter Road on Wednesday could hardly be more accommodating to Celtic’s fast passing style.  Celtic Park should be equally accommodating tomorrow.

Although Tom Rogic was instrumental to the best of our performance against Hibs, there is no reason to risk his hamstring so soon.  Resting him for the trip to Hungary and then to Dens Park next weekend, would be enough to keep him from globetrotting with Australia during the subsequent international break.

We return from that break to a League Cup semi-final and a relentless run of fixtures ahead of the winter break.  A bit of squad management with Tom right now makes sense.